37 Letters and Counting
Adolphina Maria Vander Velde - Riemensnider
When I was born my mother chose to make my name mean something. With every letter, all 37 of them, she took another person's path and their identity and shaped it to who she thought I was going to be. The characteristics that the predecessors held; strength, independence, grit, intelligence, love, and warmth; and the ability to pass them to me through my name. The power that these people and their names yield shaped me to who I am today, yet trapped me into the idea that I cannot create my own path.
Adolphina Maria Vander Velde-Riemensnider, Addi. A girl with a name not her own. Standing in the shadows of warriors. Walking life but not living it. The firstborn of the greats. Pushing through all the standards that were set for her at birth. The standards of success that she is straining herself to live up to. Standing in the shadows, trying to live up to the power her name yields. Feeling unfit to match the hardships that her successors went through. Yet, here she is defying the family norm by the hope of a degree, by hopes of growing through the norms that the family possesses. With a passion for a different life than her predecessors. A degree, an education, her own legacy.
Adolphina Hellanine Gertrude Julianna Zimmerman Vander Velde Pierce, Dolly. A woman walked with the wonder of life. Torn but not broken by the wars of the powerful. Strong in the eyes of darkness, of restraint. A name of a ruler, a name of a savior, a name of a matriarch. A name of a girl worthwhile. Landing in the Americas in 1957. Ellis Island, the statue of liberty. Grandpa Zimmerman wanting a better life than Amsterdam could offer them. More than the chasing of cats and dogs for food. More than the hiding of his daughters. More than dirt floors and trapped walls, just blocks from the girl hiding in the Attic. A girl that came from nothing, making sure no one ever felt that way. Fire Stricken red hair that was un-matching to the kind person she was.
Maria Liliana Sandoval Valdez, Lil. Strong, independent, god-given person. Spanish roots coursing through her veins in everything that she does. They say the Spanish don't like their women strongly spoken, but she is defiant in that manner. Breaking the restraints normalcy in life by pushing through them. Small but mighty. Never standing in the shadows. Never wanting to be just another girl in Salida, surpassing the norm that was set by everyone in her life. Defying the American dream of a woman suppressed in the 1960s. Representing the people. Never going to be tied down by a man. A room stopping laughter that makes you see everything that's good in the world. The matriarch. The mother. The promise.
Allen Lee Vander Velde, Allen. My Connection. My only connection to my Oma, Dolly. The light in the family's setbacks. The glue that makes me a Vander Velde. Born on a small farm in Wisconsin. Raised in the aftermath of the great depression. Wood carvings provide you the ability to see that the light is stronger than the darkness. Engulfing hugs that strip the problems away. The type of person that makes a place home. The love of a person that we all crave deep down.
Sammy Lee Riemensnider, Sam. Pa. My strength in the darkness of life. My light in this little piece of heaven. The smile on my face. The beat in my never-ending heartbeat. The person that constantly and consistently lights up a room. The person that makes me feel more than just a name. More than just a girl trying to defy yet define the name given to her. No longer standing in the shadows in his presence. His baby doll. His little Adolphina.