CLV (155) Early

One of my earliest memories happened at a wedding. My Uncle Dan, my Mom’s younger brother, to my Aunt Cala.

I remember either being held, or being in a baby carrier and seeing these women who looked just like my Mom saying “Hello Tres.”

Tres. Pronounced “Trey.” But spelled in the latin style T-R-E-S. I don’t even think the pronunciation is actually correct.

I don’t speak Latin… as far as I know, neither did my parents.

What I do know is that the spelling of my nickname, led to a lot of mispronunciations, Trace, Terez, Tres… caused quite a bit of frustration for me in kindergarten to the point that I decided to go by my proper name in school at the age of 6 years old. I was an MJ fan as a kid, but I was a kindred spirit of Prince my whole life. I told everybody of my name change at school the next year, people who were in kindergarten just the year before, I named myself.

The complication didn’t stop there.

Middle school, the time when I was the most self-conscious and insecure, first day of class anywhere:

Teacher: Alec Stephens ….

Me: (trying to leave it at that) Here.

Teacher: The Third?!?

Class: Giggling

Me: (Sigh…)

Fast Forward sometime in highschool.

Teacher: Alec Stephens

Me: The Third. I am Alec Stephens III, and I am here.

The greatest.

This doesn’t come from feeling better than, this comes from feeling weird. From feeling out of place for being who I was. I sunk down until I felt I couldn’t get any lower, the only choice was to stand.

I couldn’t ever play the role the world wrote for me, so I had to write my own. The only time I’ve felt free is when I fully let go of trying to fit the mold. But all of those experiences molded me.