[Written from the perspective of a stranger pestering Ali Ogden over his old name]
“You have pestered me for the last three blocks, and while I humor you now; I advise that others like me may not be so welcoming of such a prying intrusion.” Ali said.
And so he sat down, while you sat down across from him with the curiosity of a badger and the incessant pushing of a possum. You felt a pang of guilt, but Ali’s warning came with the tonal patience of a humble saint, not the violent spite of a man with a blade. You never once feared he may lose it, you are grateful.
“My name is Ali Ogden, yes.” Alí said. “And the reason I sit down to explain to you why I still hold the name Alivienne in such high esteem is because of who it represents.” He went on.
You hung off his every word, curious and a little guilty of the pestering but thankful for his willingness to teach.
“My mother named me because I didn’t have a voice, she raised me and gave me direction in life. With her I had guardrails but room to grow, she was my guide; not my shackle.” Ali said.
He shifted a bit before he went on. “I never changed who I am, I’ve always been a son, a brother and a man. It’s who I am. But I will always be my mother’s little girl.”
You asked why, and Ali smiled.
“She lent me her voice until I could use my own; and then she told me it was for me to tell the world who I am. She always accepted me as her son, but that doesn’t mean her daughter is gone and run.”
You pondered what Ali told you for a moment, and then you formed your final question.
Ali heard it and gave you a thoughtful answer.
“Because we all deal with the discomfort in our own bodies differently. I do not feel a sense of pain, and torment from the name Alivienne and I never will. It holds nothing but love in its sound because of the woman it came from, but my experience is not universal to everyone else. Where my old name may not be, as you put it, ‘dead’, for someone else they might wish to bury it forever. And we cannot dictate what is right for them, just for ourselves. Call people what they wish to be called; and do not pester others like you pestered me, for they may not be so willingly open about this.”
Ali leveled his gaze towards you, and he offered a polite smile before he collected his things and stood up, leaving you to reflect.