I've got a wonderful
Desiree friend - we've been buddies since our first week at school - but she finds it a bit too much for everyday use and is known as
Des. Except, sometimes, by me. Before she even started school, someone who wasn't familiar with the name said what she thought she heard, which was Daisy-Ray, and when I heard that story I started calling her
Daisy sometimes. I like
Daisy better, in fact: less emotionally intense. If I'd had enough daughters, I'd have honoured her by using
Daisy for one of them, but not
Desiree.