My name is Arizona

A Story by angelalba

A girl wondering about the origin of her name: Arizona. Her thoughts and feelings and a bit of her life story. Possible introduction for a novel.

My name is Arizona. I wasn’t born in in Arizona, I wasn’t made in Arizona, and I didn’t grow up there. I also have no intention of moving there. At least not in the near future.

But the question is, why I am named like that, if I have nothing to do with this state in the USA. Well, the story is not glorious, strange or mystical. My mother gave me that name when she, like in the old tales, wrapped me in a cloth, lying in a bread basket, lay me down onto the doorstep of an orphanage in Cairo, Egypt. She could write, which was a surprise. Normal beggar women cannot write. That is the only reason to be proud of my parents, since I know nothing about my father. And so the only good property of my mother had to be enough for both.

But back to the story of my name, before I start to shed tears.

I admit, I do not know what exactly her thoughts were, when she put the white scrap of paper into my bread basket. I only know that all people, who are dissatisfied with their lives �" and beggars and homeless might be in first place �" wish for another country, a country where everything is better, a land of unlimited possibilities.

Which country could be more fitting than the USA?

Arizona. USA. Arizona.

Probably Arizona was the only state, my mother knew. Maybe she heard it from American tourists in the streets. The name must have sounded like music in her ears. So exotic, so different. Therefore, Arizona.

I like imagining her thoughts like that. Not that I knew anything about them, but the idea was the only beautiful one I could cling to on some days.

My further life story is exactly as unmythical as the story of the origin of my name.

The lucky (or unlucky) fact, that my mother knew, where the only orphanage in the city resulted in me spending my life there for seven years. Had to spend. It is now widely known that orphanages are no luxury hotels. But if you have never been there, you cannot imagine the torment, the agony and most of all the terrible boredom and monotony.