A Tale of Janus

Bloganuary writing prompt

Write about your first name: its meaning, significance, etymology, etc.

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I know only one other person named Janice. She is very wise and sardonic, sees things and sees through people in a way that is sometimes unnerving. I’ve never asked her how she felt about her name or why her mother named her Janice. I bet both our mothers saw the name Janice in a fan magazine or in a 1940’s movie. I never asked and was never told.

In third grade, all the kids were assigned to do a report on a Greek god. For obvious reasons, I was assigned Janus. Wikipedia says that Janus “is the god of beginnings, gates, transitions, time, duality, doorways, passages, frames, and endings.” The description to go on to say that “Janus presided over the beginning and ending of conflict, and hence war and peace.” I remember reading about Janus in our family’s encyclopedia which my mother had gotten a volume at a time with Green Stamps. J was fairly early in her acquisition which was lucky for me.

Every day, Mrs. Knight, our third-grade teacher, would call on one of the students to give their report. No one ever knew when they would be called so we would all sit, our sweaty little hands holding our smudged papers, praying and hoping to be passed over. I didn’t realize at the time although I learned this lesson thoroughly and completely later in my education, that to go first is a blessing. The person who gives their report first, speech, or whatever, is brave and thus admired by the others. Plus, when they’re done, they can sit down and kick back and watch everyone else worry about being called on next.

The reports dragged on forever. The relief of not being called on one day moved quickly to dread for the next day. Months went on this way. well, it seemed like months. And, as it happens, Mrs. Knight never called on me. I never gave my report on the Greek god Janus. School let out for the summer without my having given my report. It was unbelievable to me, still is.

So, there’s my story about Janus and third grade. My story of my friend, Janice, well, that’s ongoing. I’ll see her in the Street Angels kitchen in a few weeks and we will be Janices together there. One of my favorite times.