Dear Beccas

I was at an improv show in Provo, Utah. The host, warming up the crowd, asked for my name. I told him.

“One ‘C’ or two ‘Cs’?” he asked.

“One ‘K’,” I said.

He rolled his eyes: “Only in Utah!”

It’s true. Utahans are known to take liberties with the alphabet when it comes to naming their babies. But I said, “It’s the bible spelling.”

That stumped him, but honestly, he’s not the only one who’s questioned the spelling of my nickname. For years there wasn’t a spellcheck anywhere that recognized even my full name: Rebekah. But Word would recognize Rebecca. How I used to seethe at the invalidation.

But guess what? Both Becca and Bekah are underlined in red as I type this right now. And in this way we are sisters, and equal at last.