Marigold

When someone calls me Marigold, it makes me immediately feel small and safe. I've always loved the nickname- it was the very first one I ever had! It represents the most original and primary facets of my personality. Maybe getting this nickname even shaped who I am. It has always seemed to fit me. A marigold flower is tough,  it adapts to almost any environment, it reproduces abundantly (ha), and it's not always the prettiest or most expensive flower in the bunch, but it can be exactly what someone wants or needs in a flower. It was given to me by my dad, and my brother also adopted it later in life. Perhaps my dad thought to call me Marigold because our last name was Flowers, and he actually loved the marigold flower. I used to lie when I was a kid and tell people it was my real name and I only went by Mary for short. I loved imagining myself as the child of two hippies who would have named me Marigold Flowers.