Name changer: My life as Cassie.

38 years ago, my young hopeful parents Louise and Leslie felt confident that their soon-to-be bundle of joy (me) was  going to be a bouncing baby boy!  Oh the joy!  You see, there were already two little girl cousins in the family and the grandparents all had their fingers and toes crossed hoping for their first grandson!!!  The crib was assembled and the name was picked - Casey.  His name would be Casey.

And then on August 17th, 1977 at 8:42am, the words "it's a girl!" changed everything...or at least the spelling of my name.  In the moments following the birth of a daughter and not a son, my parents decided to keep the name Casey, but change the spelling to what they thought looked girlier: K-A-S-I-E.  And the rest is just a gong-show of mispronounced misery (for me).

Look at my face: "Really?  Kasie?  Nobody can pronounce that Mom!"  

To this day, I actually dread handing over my I.D. to people, or seeing people read my name aloud from print.  I can feel the exhausting ball of tension forming in my gut while getting my canned correction ready, the one I've uttered at least a billion times: "It's actually Kasie - like Katie with an "s"...rhymes with Stacey, Tracy...."  Then they usually apologize, nod and say, "sorry about that Cassie".  Oh for the love of sanity, why could I not have been C-a-s-e-y?

I can still see the uncertainty and confusion in the polite faces of teachers, every first-day-of-school as they paused in the alphabetical roll-call, processing the unfamiliar spelling and playing mental eenie-meenie-minie-moe with their options, slowly opening their mouths and taking a gamble on whatever came out.  Occasionally the knot of name-dread would give way to sheer joy as the rare teacher actually got it right the first time!  Nobody named Jeff or Sue will ever know the relief you feel as an oddly-named child when someone calls out your moniker and nails the pronunciation, thereby avoiding the red-faced attention that comes from a verbal flub-up.

As an adult, it has not gotten any better.  Especially given that I appear on television regularly.  Instead of working quietly in a cubicle somewhere, minding my own name-woes, I have the pleasure of hearing my name mis-pronounced in front of tens-of-millions in the U.S. and Canada.  I actually find it amusing that Americans 100% of the time never say my name correctly versus 50% of Canadians. That's a little name trivia for you right there!   I actually like to think that I go by a stage name south of the border - it's "Cassie", spelled K-a-s-i-e!!!

One of my son's former hockey coaches has spent almost 4 years scrambling to recall the correct way to say my name, to the point where he defaults to Mrs. Savage.  He laughs.  I sigh.

Casey, in its correct form, is clearly still a very popular name in Canada - most notably amongst short-haired, large breed dogs.  Seriously, there are two canine Caseys on my street alone.  I was once reprimanded by an angry old man at an outdoor wedding - told to "get outta here you louse", "go home", "get lost".  Turns out that "Casey" was a senile German Shepherd that had wandered over from next door.  My husband laughed.  I signed.

The neighbourhood dogs from L to R: Casey, Casey, Casey, Casey, Rufus, Casey, Casey, Muffins

Would I change my name if I could turn back time?  Not a chance!!  It's me.  It's all I know. Would I change the spelling?  Hellz ya!  For sure!  Of course!  I've always thought K-h-a-y-s-e-e had a very nice look to it...the H is silent..like me after a botched roll call in grade 2.

Do you have a name that gets butchered?  Is this the first time you realize that my name isn't Cassie?  Is your name actually Cassie?  (If so, I hate you.  Kidding!)  Let me know!  Share!  It's like therapy...but cheaper and much less effective!