Genniejoy

GennieJoy MOC 6 #17 Username Challenge

GennieJoy MOC 6 #17 Username Challenge
Genniejoy, Jan 19, 2018
Description:
Credits: Besotted Kit by Dawn Inskip
I am so happy with this challenge! I have had to explain all of this in various ways MANY many times because of the unusual pronunciation. But I have never scrapped it and I so wanted to! It took me a VERY long time to get it THIS short! But you need the background of the first two paragraphs to understand the all important last one. If you want to know anything about me, this is the page to read!
Journalling: I was born the younger of twins, the fifth of six children. My parents gave my 4 sisters two names, ones they liked. But, my twin brother and I were each given three names and we were both named after family. My brother had our dad's and his dad's first name. But I was named after my mum's two sisters, Jean and Beverley. 'Ette' means little, so I was 'Little Jean' or Jeanette. Originally meant to be Michelle Jeanette Beverley, someone must have called me Shelley which my dad hated so he reversed my two first names before he registered the name. For 44 years that was my very long name, Jeanette Michelle Beverley H......... (I need to leave my maiden name out for privacy due to what I've said in the last paragraph, but its irrelevant to this story and challenge anyway.) :)

In 1992 I moved to Ethiopia to teach in the capital, Addis Ababa. My name in the National language, Amharic is Genet. It means Eden or Paradise (in English, Heaven). It's pronounced with the lower case sound 'g' as in 'girl' then say 'net' = g-net. This goes to the nick name 'Gennie' by Ethiopians, but it's pronounced 'g' for 'get' (take off the 't') and it rhymes with Penny. It's NOT pronounced like 'Jenny' as most people assume. I lived there for 2 1/2 years before coming home, meeting my husband, having two sons and then all of us moving to Ethiopia in 2005 to live and work at the same school. I once again became Gennie to most everyone I knew.

We all LOVED living in Ethiopia, we went for ten yrs! When we had to suddenly return home after just two & half years we all grieved. In light of that loss, and because my birth certificate went missing, I had to get a new one. As I came from a very abusive home and was named after family, it was time for me to let go of my past and the name associated with it and embrace the person I'd become. So, we decided to change my 3 given names legally to my Ethiopian name Gennie & added Joy as I had left my birth home of sadness and had become a person of joy. I love my new names and use them for everything online. I love being Gennie Joy!
    • kayjaydo
      Such a touching story - nice to meet you Gennie! Great page for the challenge and for a piece for your life
      Jan 19, 2018
      Genniejoy likes this.
    • Mylinn
      Love your story. I, too, legally changed my whole name (to 'get rid' of icky family ties) and never looked back. The photos are so neat. Is that Ethopian letters?
      Jan 19, 2018
      bestcee and Genniejoy like this.
    • Genniejoy
      @Mylinn Yes, the three symbols are my name in the Amharic scrip. They say Ge Ne T (each symbol is an actual letter and then it has a little mark or doesn't have one that indicates a vowel sound or not.)They have 277 characters in their 'alphabet'! But it's completely phonetic so very easy to read as you can sound out EVERYTHING! :) (But, not easy to comprehend!)
      Jan 19, 2018
      wenckechodan and Mylinn like this.
    • scrumptious
      What a moving story, and a fascinating history of your name. Thank you for sharing it!
      Jan 19, 2018
      Genniejoy likes this.
    • Amson
      What a truly inspiring story!
      Jan 19, 2018
      Genniejoy likes this.
    • flowersgal
      Moving story. Glad you chose Joy and are living it. Lovely layout and I enjoyed seeing photos of 3 different stages in your life journey.
      Jan 20, 2018
      wenckechodan likes this.
    • bestcee
      I love that you changed your name to represent you! The touch of adding your name in Amharic scrip is awesome! Thanks for sharing!
      Jan 23, 2018
    There are no comments to display.
  • Category:
    Month of Challenges 6
    Uploaded By:
    Genniejoy
    Date:
    Jan 19, 2018
    View Count:
    426
    Comment Count:
    7

    EXIF Data

    File Size:
    239.3 KB
    Mime Type:
    image/jpeg
    Width:
    600px
    Height:
    600px
     

    Note: EXIF data is stored on valid file types when a photo is uploaded. The photo may have been manipulated since upload (rotated, flipped, cropped etc).