Anne Marie Perri.
For twenty-five years this was my name and I loved it. It has so much meaning, every name is a family history.
Anne: On my mother’s side going back at least 5 generations the Irish women have named their daughters following the pattern Anne, Bridget Kathleen, Anne, Bridget Kathleen. I plan to name my future daughter (hopefully) Bridget Kathleen.
Marie: Taken from my Nona’s middle name on my dad’s side.
Perri: My papap Tony brought this name with him from Italy in the 1950s. I have so much love for this name and my Italian American family. It’s hard to put into words what a last name means, but in my heart I know it’s so important to me.
After getting married it took me two years to finally make a decision on my name. It was a really difficult decision. I didn’t want to lose the Perri. I have no brothers and I wanted to keep my part of the Perri’s alive. Also, I felt like I would be less of a feminist if I just took my husband’s name. I felt like I was giving up who I am…that might seem ridiculous, but that’s how I felt. At the same time, I didn’t want a different name from my, then, future children. I changed it to Anne Perri Cole. Perri is my middle name now. It’s not the perfect solution, but it’s the best compromise for me. The Ginger offered to change his middle name to Perri, but we haven’t really discussed it further. I kind of wish we made Jack’s middle name Perri. Maybe that’s something to talk about more.
Anyways, it’s taken until this year to finally feel like a Cole. Recently we went to a Pirate game on a free t-shirt Friday just because the shirts were for player Gerrit Cole and had “COLE” emblazoned on the back. When we first saw the ads on TV for it the Ginger got so excited and without even realizing it I was too! We made a point to get tickets and dressed Jack in his baby Cole Pirate’s tee that, of course, matched the Ginger. I looked at the two of them all dressed up and finally felt like a Cole. We’re a new Cole family, a part of a larger Cole clan with the Ginger’s parents, sister, and extended family, but we have our own little family. Just the three of us. I love that. And I love being a Cole.
