I grew up loving my name. It seemed sweet, strong and the epitome of the girl next door. It isn’t fancy but it is a pretty name. I live a rather normal life. I grew up a happy child who had two wonderful parents who loved and supported me. I was born in the 60’s and raised as a child in the 70’s where Mary Ann of Gilligan’s Island could have been an older sister. My mom told me originally my dad wanted to name me Heidi, but my mom wouldn't have it as the neighbor's cat was named that. She was afraid that when she called my name in the in the yard, Heidi the cat would show up instead of me. I was a teen in the 80’s and Molly Ringwald was an identifiable persona for those challenging years.- Ironically Molly is another word for Mary. I have only one sibling and her name is Molly. Today I am a married mother of 5 beautiful children. Each one different in their own right, however, I do have a daughter named Mary who was named for her paternal grandmother. As a REALTOR your name is everything. Name recognition makes or breaks you. I feel very fortunate that no other agent has the name Marianne in Spokane, Washington, which is our State’s 2nd largest City. The best part that I discovered about my name happened when I took my mother on a vacation to France.  I soon discovered that my name Marianne is a national emblem of France and an allegory of Liberty and Reason. Honestly, they had me at national emblem…