The first day of school always started the same for me. “Abner Harrell” the teacher would say. (Even though I made sure to get to class early and request they use my middle name, David, when they called attendance). Every year it was the same story, all the way through high school. The first day of school would remind this guy, Chris Reed, of my first name and I’d spend the next two weeks relentlessly getting “Abner” cat calls. He’d soon forget about it and I’d go back to being “David” for the rest of the year. I did not like my name very much. I wondered why my father… read more →