I wonder if any one else feels like me.Over the years i have started to wonder who i am.This began at a very early age and has got worse as i became a mother.The reason for this is simple.

Growing up i would walk down the streets with my friends and people who knew my parents would always stop to say hi. That was fine until they opened their mouths to speak,it always began"hi,you're Brenda's daughter aren't you". I felt like screaming at them.Naturally i am her daughter but i do have a name you know,the one my mother christened me with.

It was always the same where ever i ventured.Now i am a mother to Hayley the cycle has begun again."you're Hayley's mum".Even parents of my daughters friends introduce them selves as though they have no name or identity of their own.For heavens sake what is wrong with the world today.

On the news we are always warned about identity protection.Beware the people willing to steal your name and live life as though they were you.Well this is no different is it.Why worry about your identity being robbed when you do not even award your self with your own name.

I have no objections being told i look like my mother/daughter but i am not a clone of them.My name is Bev and i have my own personality,unique to me.I am naturally a very proud parent but i wish folks would remember that before she was born i had a separate life as well.I have a brain,my own heart and other organs that solely belong to me.So why then can't people let me have my own name.

This lack of respect for a persons personal identity will only continue until we all make a stand.Parents stop introducing your selves as so and so's mother/father.Fight for the right to have a name.The next time you bump in to another parent who is a friend to your child,speak out. So beware citizens of the world,my voice has come back to me and from now on you all can call me BEV.