Dear Other Eli,

In the summer of 1979 a wholly unique event occurred that would eventually alter the lives of tens of thousands of people. That summer, two babies named Eli were born and were then raised in the town of Madison, IN. As our time on theMCHS Swim Team taught us, I was always the faster one and was born a week earlier. On the surface, this doesn’t seem like a big deal; kids with the same name are raised in the same town all the time. However, you have to understand that, 30+ years ago the only people named Eli were senior citizens or the occasional Amish lad (and while they have settlements near us, they weren’t really all that common on the local playgrounds) and you also have to understand that at the time, Madison had a population of about 9,000 people. This made our name quite unique and the fact that we shared it something of an oddity. Given that we had similar names (I’m Elijah and you’re the truncated, Eli), were separated by a scant 6 days, had eerily similar initial (I’m EJC and you’re EBC) and went to elementary schools just 1 mile apart it was inevitable that the occasional mix up would occur.

And so we come to the point of this blog entry.

You see, the word occasional is the sticking point. I’d have been okay with the occasional mix-up. But every single time I encountered someone and told them my name we had the same interaction:

Young Eli: Hi. I’m Eli.

Random Person: Oh! I’ve heard of you! You’re the kid who’s doing that community service project, and active in his church, and attends all the advanced classes in school, and is in the youth choir, and is in the swim club, and participates in Student Government, and has a bright shiny future in front of him. You’re amazing!

YE: Ummm… No. That’s Eli C[REDACTED]. I’m Eli Ch[REDACTED].

RP: Oh wow! Your names are so unique, isn’t it funny that you’ve grown up in the same town?

YE: Uh, sure. I guess.

RP: So, what do you do?

YE: I… Uh… I read comic books and ride my bike a lot.

RP: *embarrassed look* *disappointed voice* Oh.

Every.

Single.

Time.

And so it was, throughout elementary school, straight through junior high, and on into high school. Even after I had a bit of a blossoming moment and started coming out of my shell, it still happened. I had actually joined society and started participating in things. I was on the swim team, I acted in a summer theater company, I co-founded the poetry club, I did backstage work for all of the high school’s theatrical productions and any other presentation requiring the stage. Heck, I even had a pretty recognizable nickname that virtually everyone that knew me referred to me as and I even used it to introduce myself.

But still it happened.

High School Eli: Hi, I’m [REDACTED – YOU DON’T GET TO KNOW MY HS NICKNAME]

Random Person: That’s your nickname, right?

HSE: What, you think my name’s weird? You think there’s something wrong with a kid being named [REDACTED]?!

RP: *stuttering* No! I just… I’m so sorry… I had assumed…

HSE: Naw, I’m screwing with you. It’s my nickname. My real name is Eli.

RP: *relieved* then *face lights up* Hey, I’ve heard of you! You’re the kid who’s a life guard, and  is active in his community, and attends all the AP classes in school, and is in the show choir, and is on the swim team, and writes for the school newspaper, and has a bright shiny future in front of him. You’re amazing!

HSE: No. You’re thinking of the other Eli. I’m Eli Ch[REDACTED].

RP: Oh wow! Your names are so unique, isn’t it funny that you’ve grown up in the same town?

HSE: The mind! It boggles!

RP: *nervous chuckle* So what do you do?

HSE: Well, I act with a summer theater company, I do a lot of crew work for other school productions, I’m on the swim team, I co-founded the poetry club, and I play roller hockey with some of my friends, Eli C[REDACTED] included. I am the assistant manager at a local pizza joint. Also, as you can see, I made horns out of my hair.

RP: But you’re not Eli C[REDACTED]?

HSE: No. I’m someone else entirely.

RP: *embarrassed look* *disappointed voice* Oh.

Your shadow was long, Other Eli, and I always seemed to find myself standing in it. That’s the real reason I moved away after high school. Oh, sure, I tell people it’s because I had a strong desire to travel across the country to find the America Kerouac had written about, but truth be told I was just trying to get to a place where no one knew who either one of us was. For many years, I had been successful. People knew me, for me. People knew you, for you. And then…

I was in Washington D.C. a couple of years ago to attend another high school friend’s wedding. My wife and I were sitting at a local cafe, eating on their patio and enjoying the area. At one point, a conversation was struck between myself and the guy at the table nearest me. You had lived in The District for a number of years at the time but I thought that, given the size of the city, there was virtually no chance I’d run into someone that knew you.

Adult Eli: Pleasure to meet you. I’m Eli Ch[REDACTED].

Random Person: The pleasure’s all mine. My name is Jack [SOMETHING OR OTHER]. Have we met before? Your name seems very familiar.

AE: I doubt it. I’m from a small town in Southern Indiana.

RP: *face lights up* Yeah! I knew we’d met! It was a couple of years ago at a Choral Arts Society event at the Kennedy Center. Hey, I saw your girlfriend on CNN last night. She did great.

AE: Huh. Wow, this hasn’t happened in a while. That’s actually not me. You’re thinking of Eli C[REDACTED]. I’m Eli Ch[REDACTED]. Oddly enough, Eli and I grew up in the same town though.

RP: Wow! What an amazingly small world we live in! So, tell me Other Eli, what do you do?

AE: *struggles to contain rage face at being referred to as Other Eli* I test proprietary software for a Fortune 50 company’s supply chain as well as help design new operational process to streamline how we get product from point A to point B.

RP: But you don’t sing at the Kennedy Center or anything?

AE: No. No I do not.

RP: *embarrassed look* *disappointed voice* Oh.

AE: *to passing waiter* Check please!

As your upcoming nuptials get closer and closer, though, I find myself not caring if people mistake me for you. I am so honored and humbled that you’d ask me to be a part of your wedding, it feels like a compliment to get mistaken for you.

What I’m trying to say is that, for the moment, I’m happy to be the Other Eli.

Congrats, man. I’m so happy for you. You’ve been a brother for a very long time and I’m glad you’ve finally found someone to put up with you share your life with.

Love,

Elijah