"A rose by any other name would smell so sweet."
"Sticks and stones may break my bones, but names will never hurt me"
These are just a couple of the many aphorisms that pertain to names. Suffice to say, they are both quite false. Names can and do have a powerful influence on who we are and how our life unfolds. It is this author's intention in this little essay to paint the life story of GERDA MARGRET SCHMIDMEISTER SPEZIALE from the vantagepoint of the various names she has acquired over the course of her first seventy years on this planet.