My dad chose my name, Susan. My parents called me Suzie-Q when I was little. As I grew, they called me Susan. I don’t know where the name came from. Dad just said he liked it and never had a boy’s name in mind. Of course, back in 1950, there was no way of knowing what their little baby would be before birth. Good thing I wasn’t a boy or I might have been a boy named Susan.

My sister came along 18 months later. When Karen started to talk she couldn’t say Suzie. Ss were hard for her to pronounce. Karen shortened my name to Z. Just thinking about my little sister following me around and calling me Z gives me a warm feeling.