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My sister-in-law, who is fifty-nine years old, is named Shirley. As long as I know a living person with a dated name, I don't ever think of the name as ready for a comeback.

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For some reason, I want to say that my sister-in-law has ruined the name for me. She's not a bad person. She's physically attractive, she's well-meaning, she was a very good mother and a hard worker. But also, loud and tactless and has a high, shrill voice and a funny Philadelphia accent and my sisters and I used to make fun of her.

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I'm trying to disassociate the name from my sister-in-law...I just can't do it! I can't judge Shirley objectively.