My name is Melina
By Melina, written at LEI with Jovenes en Accion, Cleveland Council on World Affairs
My name is Melina, which means something new in every language. In Greek, it means yellow canary. In Russian, it means raspberry. In Italian, it means little apple. For me, though, my name has one meaning. When my mother was carrying me, my father was reading about my anscestors to gather clues about my birth. He found a book called The Other side of the Wall about Jewish resistance to Nazi rule. A “Melina” was a made up word for a safe hiding place. Melinas were places of solidarity and hope.
From Western Massachusetts