What's in a name?

This symbol, consisting of the intertwined A and M is called Auspice Maria, monogram of the Virgin Mary. Auspice Maria is Latin for "Under the protection of Mary" and is commonly found on Catholic religious art, on churches and inscribed on jewelry. "But why is it tattooed on your arm?" you might ask. Let me explain.
My father, after having two sons, was desperate for a daughter. As the story goes, he prayed to the Virgin Mary every night that the child my Mom was carrying would be a baby girl. Low and behold in the very fine month of May, I was born.
Here's where it gets interesting. Not many of you know that "Melissa" is actually my middle name. Yup, it's true! My father was so thrilled that his prayers had been answered he insisted my name be Mary! So I was baptized Mary Melissa Grassel.
For some bizarre reason, that I'm not privy to, my family never called me Mary! I was always "Lissa," short for Melissa. So I grew up not liking the name Mary. As I became a teenager and heard the Virgin Mary story told again and again, I rebelled even more and grew to despise the name..
During my divorce (the first one) I was given the opportunity to take back my maiden name. Cool I thought, but not only could I just take back my maiden name, I could change my name to anything! Seriously, for the same fifty bucks I could be Tiffany, Sophia or Stephanie! I decided to do the sane thing and just get ride of that God awful name "Mary" and officially became M. Melissa Grassel.
My father (as you can imagine) was devastated and although I never wanted to hurt him I did want to exercise my independence, so M. Melissa it was.
The years went by and my father forgave me for that and all the other stupid things I had done that really hurt him and when he died he and I were in a really good place with each other. We had made peace after years of father/daughter struggles.
It was just a short time after Dad passed, that I suddenly realized that for some weird reason, throughout most most of my adult life.... that whenever I was troubled or needed spiritual help, I went directly to the Virgin Mary! It blew my mind! Not only that I went to her , but that she had usually responded to my need! Thanks Dad!
Some 10 odd years after my Dad died, I had to let him know that he had been right all that time! I had to let him know that I had fucked up royally and now agreed that changing my name was a selfish and juvenile thing to do. So here I was 45 years later proud of a name that I didn't legally have and proud of how I had come by it.
My tattoo does just that. I feel I am honoring my Father and telling the world that I am happily, gratefully and eternally "Under the protection of Mary."