Do you remember when you were a child and it was cool to have a cup, key chain or T-shirt with your name on it? Well, I never had that luxury, you see, because I have a rather unique name. I learned early on in life that I would never be able to walk into a gift shop and purchase anything with my name on it right off the rack. If I wanted a personalized key chain, they’d better have engraving. If I wanted a T-shirt, hopefully they had airbrushing. So as you may have guessed, I wasn’t one of those people who could say, “My name means blah, blah, blah,” either. But most of my life, I’ve been comforted with knowing that my mom always knew she would name me ‘Annika’ after reading Pippi Longstocking as a girl, even if she didn’t know the meaning. And I love being named after the best friend of the most unconventional and assertive redhead ever.

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