Hi. Uhn. My name is Jen and... hmmn... uhhh.. well, I'm a Jen.

They say that the first sign is denial. I went through most of my life denying I was a Jen. Well, that's not particularly true, since I had never met a Jen until I was in High School. Jen's just didn't live in our neighborhood or go to our school or shop at our local kosher supermarket where everybody who was anybody shopped. Except for Jens. Apparently.

My introduction to Jendom was in High School. (My mother tried to get me to go to the catholic High School, but you can only wear brown and green uniforms for so long, before you snap...)

Jen H sat behind me in class. I was amazed! She knew the answers to the questions, could razz a teacher to within an inch of getting detention, flirted with all the boys in the class, skipped school without getting caught, read science-fiction books, liked 80s music (well - okay. It was the 80s. My story!) and could write fiction!

She was so cool!

I think that was when I first wanted to be a Jen.

I had spent my life being this that and the other. I was everything from "Jennifer #1" to "Jenny" to "Jen-Jen", and sometimes I was even simply "J". Nuts. I was born to be a Jen, I just didn't know how.

It wasn't until I left home that I realized how big a lie I had been living. I left for University a Jennifer, but I came back a full-fledged Jen.

My family doesn't understand it. To them I will always be "Jenny". My brother is, amazingly enough, open-minded enough to call me Jen when he e-mails me, but I guess a lifetime habit is hard to break - He still says Jenny out loud.

My friends all laugh. They can't believe anyone could mistake me for a Jenny. They all agree, saying "You're Jen. Definitely not Jenny." I agree.

Being a Jen is something that you are just born into. You can't just decide: hey, I want to be a Jen today. No. It's not like choosing clothes or picking a restaurant. It's a way of living that you just feel in your bones. Hobos used to say that they had itchy feet, and were born ready to leave town. Jens are born with itchy souls, and they are born ready to laugh in the face of fate and say "make me".

What is a Jen? A Jen is someone who was born with the name Jennifer, and usually has a middle name of Ann or Lynn. At some point in life the gods make themselves known to her, and she begins to say, "Hi, my name is Jen" when meeting people. Jens are always powerful. The power manifests itself in various ways, but when you meet a Jen it is hard to forget her.

Not every Jennifer becomes a Jen. This is hard for many people to understand, but if you ever get a chance, compare a Jen to a Jennifer or a Jenny and you will see a difference. It's there. Like the difference between bread and cake. Or rain and a storm. Or soda from a can and soda from a glass bottle.

And be careful if you ever love a Jen. They are hard to let go.

If you want to know more about Jen, I suggest visiting the Jencyclopedia, or a few sites listed in Jen Central, or peruse the Jen Ring.

tee hee hee...