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over to Mary Anne and saw that she had been chatting with Edie Sedgwick and Andy that whole time. I didn't mind in the least. I just knew I had fallen in love for the first time in my life. His name was Robert Jones".

I crooked my head so I could look up at her. She always closed her eyes and smiled at this part.
It was the only sweet memory she had left of the bitter history she had with my father. She had done her best to shield me from the more tumultuous aspects of their relationship as I grew up.

They had been completely inseparable, falling fast and hard for each other. They shared a love of The Old Testament, along with the even deeper pagan rituals and religions that existed before Christ. They would absorb every book they could find about the many Greek and Roman myths and legends. Mom would take a train up to New York City to meet my father, and they would spend hours walking the streets, discussing which God or Goddess they would name their children after. After much research and playful arguing, they had decided upon Cassia for a girl and Ares for a boy.

Desi had always been fascinated with the story of Keziah (a rendition of the cassia plant) from the book of Job. She was the middle daughter of Job, and was named after an exotic cousin of the spice cinnamon. When the wise men came to give gifts to the baby Jesus, cassia was one of the spices given. His daughters had received inheritances every bit as prosperous as their brothers, which never happened according to those times and traditions. Therefore,
Keziah became a symbol for equality among women. She and her sisters were the prosperous rewards of the trials and tribulations Job had gone through, made flesh.

"That is what I want our daughter's name to be", she whispered to Dad one night. "Cassia Hope Jones. It has a lovely ring to it, don't you think?"

"Unfortunately, I was given the same affliction that my mother had. I am unable to have another child, but at least I have my Cassia".

She bent down, planted a kiss on my head, and grinned, because I had fallen asleep. It was a position that we had been in countless times before; curled up on the porch of my grandparent's townhouse in the middle of Philadelphia. Just two specs on the planet, really, but as far as the two of us were concerned; the world consisted only of us, for the time being, at least.

I had always thought that the name bestowed to me was a lot to live up to when my mother had told me what my name meant that night.

"You are going to

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