What's in a Name

I lived about seventeen years before any of my friends started using Nat with regularity. It's true.

To my mom and sisters, I've always been Nettie.
To my dad, I'm Net. Or Netlet.

I think my grandparents are my only family members to use Nat. Even still.

Somewhere in the last five years, my world has fully immersed me as Nat. In fact, I've gotten to the point in certain social circles that I feel strange to hear my full name used by certain people.

As "Nat" is a nickname to the full "Natalie" I was blessed with, and nickname usage usually indicates familiarity, I like when people call me Nat. I feel like we're on a comfortable, familiar level. The people who call me Nat usually know me or something about me that's beyond surface value.

On the flipside, I like when people I'm just meeting take it upon themselves to call me Nat. Sometimes pretending you're better friends than you really are is a good jumpstart to an actual friendship.

There have only been a few times I have not enjoyed being called Nat. And to be honest, I can't remember who/what they even were! So there you go.

For as many people as call me Nat though, there are certain of my besties who still call me Natalie in full, and I kind of like that too. (Mostly it's the very few high school friends I'm still holding on to.)

I've never written my own name/pseudo-name so many times before in such a condensed space. Crazy! And strange.

Long story short. Call me whatever you want.