By Any Other Name

I'm officially Melanie Campbell, finally.

I've been Melanie Light for far too long. While I love the name itself, it has an unfortunate relationship to my adoptive father. It ties me to a family of which I have not been a part, even as long as I have had the name. I remember, as young as 4 years old, a sense of injustice when it came to my dad. And later, his absolute disregard for logic whenever any situation was emotionally-charged.

I can move beyond everything I know of him now, and everything my family has been through because of him and his brothers, his parents, and indeed everyone who ever had the name Light; because I am now creating a meaning for my own name, together with Colin and Calina Campbell -- a new namesake that will carry with it a different type of love.