My name is pronounced "Male-e"; I was named after a somewhat-affluent friend of my parents, Melie Manning. Melie and his wife were unable to conceive a male heir to perpetuate the family name, so he promised my parents a hefty sum if they would name their next son after him. My parents honored the agreement but Melie died before he could fulfill his promise, thus I inherited his name--a name I detested as a youth because my peers occasionally taunted me, with jeers like: "Melie is a girl's name!" However, as an adult, I realized that it is a uniqu more...
