danielle (judge of god) asked me what my name meant. i'd forgotten. an internet search turned up, inevitably, the shortened version of caroline (not me), coming from charles (particularly fitting given that my mother's name is charlene). a couple of definitions that didn't ring a bell: manly (on this danielle agreed), song of joy (french), and then, there it was, the one i recognized from baby paperbacks past: free man. yes. but alongside, "It is also suggested that there is an alternative meaning - creative beauty." a little too much, there.
and from one site "Cultural & Historical figures with this name: Carrie Chapman Catt, A feminist and advocate for women's suffrage." surely there are more notable persons with my name? true, carrie fisher was also listed as a "Sports and Entertainment figure with this name," and certainly princess leia and postcards from the edge were not lost on me. but then, finding more about ms. chapman catt (*3 Cs*) why look, she was born on january 9, one birth day shy of this carrie. after her first husband died she worked as a newspaper reporter. with her second husband she "signed a prenuptial agreement which guaranteed her two months in the spring and two in the fall for her suffrage work." they had no children. she lived for a time in san francisco. she was key in the passage of the 19th amendment, allowing women to vote. after, she organized the league of women voters.
go carrie, free man