Since I was born way back in 1944, it is a great honor for me to have been given an original copy of my birth announcement belonging to my late Grandma Rehfeldt.
Yeah, that's me! 
Above is my Great-Grandma Juliet! All my life, I have appreciated being named after my great grandmother.
Even though I was born in Freeport, Illinois, most of my life I have lived in Rockford, Illinois. Everyone here has known me as Juliet - my family, friends and classmates.
We can all think of times we have made decisions we later regretted. Mine happened while attending college. When you meet new people on campus, one of the questions asked would normally be, "What's your name?" Often I would say and correctly so, "Juliet." Too often the reply back was, "Huh?" So, to my dismay, I finally dropped the "t" out of my name, and would just tell them my name was "Julie." Hence, now I have college friends who know me as "Julie" which is also what my late husband called me.
But when we moved back to Rockford from Chicago, I reclaimed my real name - Juliet. You might be thinking, "SO WHAT?!"
Just last week while talking to my mother (who will be 91 this month) I asked her how well she knew Grandma Juliet. "Oh, I knew Grandma Julie really well! She liked me a lot." was her reply. Before the conversation could go any further, I said, "GRANDMA JULIE, you didn't call her Grandma Juliet?" Then my mother told me something I never knew. Mom said, "No, we all called her Grandma Julie. When we decided to name you after her, Grandma Julie told me to NEVER (I REPEAT NEVER) to let anyone call you Julie." Oh, how I wished I had heard that story before I headed off to college.
But it has come full circle for me. My name is Juliet, and - no matter if people say, "Huh?" - I'm sticking with it!
5 comments:
I happen to think it is a beautiful name - when I was a little girl I remember thinking how romantic it was - or how Dad used to joke they "ran out" of "Romeo's," so you had to settle for a "Robert."
I think we got the best end of that deal, don't you?
Happy Birthday! I think you have a cool name, Juliet. And I also like Julie, so...win-win. :-)
I just keep hearing Bryce call you "Aunt Julie!" He will never get the "t" on the end :)
With Bryce I will make an exception....until he is older.:)
Julie is a pretty name it's just that it was not my given name. And I will of course answer to the name Julie. Many people from Chicago knew me by the name.
I will say to people who say "huh"..."Juliet"...like Romeo and Juliet..then they will say, "OH"
I've always thought Juliet is a beautiful name--wear it proudly! I think you're the only "Juliet" I know...except for the character on "Lost." :)
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