The Girl Who Didn’t Know Her Name

The little girl with big glasses was in first grade of school. She was scared and excited her eyes looking all over the classroom through her big glasses.

The teacher read all the students’ names but hers. She raised her hand in a shy way and said ” You haven’t read my name. I am Miryam.”

The teacher looked at the paper in front of her and then said “I don’t see a Miryam here. You must be Mi-ri-am. What a starnge name and how come you don’t know your name?”

And everybody laughed…

The little girl with the big glasses couldn’t answer. She felt the red crawl up her face. Wondering if everybody else could see the color of her face, she wanted to hide or better disappear.

She heard the words of her teacher echo in her ears “What a strange name! You don’t know your name!”

The little girl was very little and she had no friends. After all, who would make friends with a girl with such a strange name.

She quite often got angry with her parents. Why had they given her this stange name?

So she wandered alone during the breaks in school wishing she could hide or disappear into an imaginary world.

More and more, the girl started to feel like she was different than everyone. Why didn’t her hair look as beautiful as the other girls? Why didn’t she solve the questions in math so quickly?

She started to grow but she still felt “small” in her heart. Small and insignificant, small and unnoticable.

And soon she believed her problems had no remedy. She had to accept that she would never have any friends nor be successful nor be loved.

Years passed…

The girl had a new teacher for a new subject in school.

When her turn came, she murmured her name in a way that it could be barely heard.

The new teacher’s eyes shone. Your name is very popular where I come from she said in a cheerful voice.

The little girl didn’t know what to say for it was the first time someone had really seen and heard her.

She started to talk in class and everytime she spoke the new teacher looked her in the eye smiling and approving.

She felt her heart filled with happiness. She wanted to talk more and more for she had accumulated so much words to tell at another time.

In time, she wasn’t afraid to make friends and look at the mirrors anymore. She didn’t think she or her name was strange.

Many years passed.

The little girl graduated to become a teacher. By her side was her English teacher who had supported her and loved her for who she was. They looked in the eye, smiling with their eyes.

And when she taught her first class, she praised every child’s name looking at them in the eye, smiling and approving.