Myname is Mary Rae Fields Gaddis. I never liked my name. I never usedmy middle name and only heard it when my mother was upset with me andthen it was MARY RAE FIELDS! My dad's affectionate name for me wasMamie (the name of my blog) but my mother didn't like him to call me that because shedidn't like Mamie Eisenhower. (President Eisenhower's wife – mydad's family were staunch Republicans and my mother's family werejust as staunch Democrats – I'm pretty sure they canceled out eachothers votes for many elections. My grandpa Fields once told me thatif I were running as a Democrat and a monkey was running as aRepublican, he would vote for the monkey!) It was determined before Iwas born that if I were a girl, I would be named after both of mygrandmothers and if I were a boy, I would be named for both of mygrandfathers.