What's your number?

During some recreational googling, a dear demented friend found a reference to a person named Nancy 3. Hoffman who expresses her Jewish heritage by playing accordian in a klezmer band called the Maine Squeeze somewhere in southern Maine besides running the only museum of umbrella covers. It sounds like a busy existence. Nancy's middle name used to be Arlene, but she had it legally changed to 3 just because she liked it better than the other digits she tried. You know how it goes. You need something to do sometimes besides slapping mosquitoes or blogging, so you change your middle name.

So, could we conduct a survey? I think it could be an interesting survey question. If you were to replace your middle name with a number between one and nine, what number would you choose? Then we could analyze the choices by age, gender, birth order, astrological sign, political and religious affiliation, tax bracket... I bet there are some significant differences between people who choose odd numbers and those who choose even. Why didn't I think of this when my kids had to do those ridiculous Science Fair experiments? This survey wouldn't have involved dyeing, burning, or exploding anything, and would cost less than the ecoli fast food burger project. (That one did have a great Led Zep soundtrack, I have to admit.)

Steven said it felt really weird when he had to be number 4 on a soccer team, because he had always been an odd number before. When I told my dad, he said he couldn't imagine being an even number. Two sons usually choose number three. I'll have to ask my oldest, and my mom, and other family members. Then I'll ask my coworkers.

I would pick five. I have inexplicably felt that five was my personal number my whole life, and especially so in certain fonts. 5 5 5 5 5 5

We moved here when Steven had just turned three. We moved on a very hot Memorial Day weekend. We had come down here on Steven's birthday, May sixth, to celebrate with his dad, who was living in fine style at Embassy Suites all that spring while I was single-parenting in Oklahoma. We had birthday cake at the elementary school playground the boys would attend in the fall, and then we went to the renaissance faire. Steven's big brothers had played t-ball in Edmond. I'm sure I have recounted my parental horror story of having them playing on different fields at the same time at different ends of Edmond when the tornado sirens sounded.

Little Steven was desperate to "be on a team". For his birthday my college friend sent him a little purple t-shirt with the pawprint of the Pickerington, Ohio high school team, and the number 3 on the back. Steven was thrilled. What he had actually wanted all along was a shirt with a number. Anytime he wore that shirt he was "on a team".

So, what is your number? What would you choose for your middle name? What made you decide on that number?