It first
started when I was a young boy. You see, I wasn’t the most popular kid in school
and that is even counting when I was home schooled. I was always one minute
away from being filthy, and my way of flirting with girls was running into walls.
Clearly, both choices didn’t make me high on the popularity scale. What made
matters worse came from other boys named “Andy” being smarter in school,
better looking, or more athletic. Unless I heard my sister or my mother call me
“Andy”, I didn’t turn around until I was 17. That’s when I lost my name the
first time and became “Bennetch”. My private school was really small but big
enough to have two other Andy’s that were far more popular than me. So this
named followed me all throughout middle school and early high school and still
has its impact. So much that, the year before I married your mother, an old
friend saw me walking by and yelled out “Bennetch?!”, and I turned around.
The
second time I lost my name was my own fault. I decided to move to NYC and, the
last year I was in Atlanta, was trying to decide if I wanted to be “Drew” or “Andrew”.
Truth be told, I was leaning more towards “Drew”. I started a new job that year
and, when they asked me what my name was, I told them it was “Drew”. This plan
worked all well and good until I caught my manager yelling at someone named
Drew. She was NOT happy to say the least! Then, as if being poured a glass of cold
ice water, I remembered I was the Drew at which she was yelling. Needless to say, that
name stayed in Atlanta, GA.
So it
was decided that I would be “Andrew” when I moved to NYC. It was perfect! If you
knew me by “Andy” then you knew the old me from back home. I almost felt
it was a little like Superman. If you knew me by the name Andrew, you knew the
Superman version of me but, if you knew me by the name Andy, you knew the Clark
Kent version. Also, since your Diva used to scold me by saying my proper first
name a lot, I knew it was me when they said the name Andrew. For almost 10
years, I was Andrew and I loved every moment! 
Then I met
your mother. As you well know, she is quite the popular girl! Suddenly I wasn’t
Andy, Drew, or Andrew but Rachel’s boyfriend, fiancé’, and eventually husband. I
was ok with that because…well…I got the girl!Soon after we settled, I got a new name – Lyra’s dad. Now that is a name I love! I’m so proud when everyone tells me how sweet, kind, and silly you are! It’s a name I’ll never replace!
However, there is still one more time I’m bound to lose my name and, unlike before, it’s something I look forward to more than Christmas morning. I can’t wait for the special time when I become “Dada”, “Dad”, “Pop”, “Greatest man on earth” --- ok, maybe not the last one.
P.S. Being Your Dad is Awesome!
