It was on a road trip, one of those I used to take so I could dress for a couple of days under the pretense of camping or business. I had recently discovered a web page that discussed how to develop a feminine voice so I was spending my time talking to myself as I attempted to work out something convincing. In one experiment I started speaking with my version of a British accent (my apologies to anyone with the real thing). Somewhere between Ely and Pioche Nevada on U.S. 93, the name Sarah seemed to flow right out of "jolly old across the pond" and it stuck. Charles is my given middle name and seemed to settle in quite well as a last name. A few years later I remembered a conversation with my mother where she told me that she had picked out Marie as a name for the girl they thought was coming instead of their second boy child. So I took that as my middle name because I knew my wife would get mad at me some day and would need the extra name as she called me to task. "Sarah MARIE Charles! What did I tell you to do before I left?"

I've often thought I would have liked a name that could be the source of shorter "pet" names and leaned toward Katherine. As it is I'm stuck with nicknames like "Hey You!" and occasionally "Sir". Ahh well, as long as we're all happy.