Shelley Sandblom

The Mess Room Boy

One day, out of the blue, a white package arrived in the mail, addressed to me. There was no mistake. The address and name were spelled correctly, and, as far as I knew, there were no other "Mady Anne McGregors" in the world. After all, my mother shortened my name to 'Mady" instead of "Maddie" or "Maddy", like most people. It's supposed to be pronounced "Mah-Dee" not "May-Dee", which I have long grown tired of telling everyone who gets it wrong. As an aspiring writer, it's a pet peeve of mine to have a name that everyone mispronounces.