Notes for a One-Woman Show, by Sherri Krynski, 1 of 5

         Notes for a One-Woman Show

        By Sherri Krynski

 

My Name

 

My name is Sherri Beth Hellerstein Krynski.

My parents named me Sherri Beth Krynski. I don’t know why Sherri – they just liked it, I guess. Beth was for grandmother Bertha. Krynski came from Kayvasiwski. (Kay was ow ski.) Zyckowski? I don’t know. I can’t spell these polysyllabic Slavic names. Lost forever, I guess. By the time Dad left the Army, he was Krynski. Thus, so am I.

I feel neutral about Sherri – not a name I hate, not a favorite either. I kept it out of habit, mostly.

        Beth is cool. I like Beth.

        Hellerstein. Ah, Hellerstein. That’s the family name, with the history and the reputation. Nat’s family. My family, none.

        When we got married, we took each other’s last names as a middle name. Thus I am Sherri Beth Hellerstein Krynski, and he is Nathaniel Shawn Krynski Hellerstein.

        Egalitarian, fair, yet maintaining a connection. I married him because he is the kind of man who is willing to share and to be there with me on a fair basis.

        Hannah Laila Krynski Hellerstein is our daughter. She belongs to both of us.