Behind the Name

“Seconds Flat:” a name that I almost want to leave standing on its own so that whatever vision creeps into the reader’s mind is exactly what it’s supposed to mean. However, the need to present my intended purpose is just as pressing.

It started with lines from a Beatles song: “Woke up, fell out of bed, dragged a comb across my head, found my way downstairs and drank a cup, and looking up, I noticed I was late. Found my coat and grabbed my hat, made the bus in seconds flat.” To me, the lyrics paint a picture of the constant chaos that is life. In fact, the very title of the song, “A Day in the Life,” seems to speak to that. We’re born into a rushed world, a world where we are shuffled and spun from one moment to the next and can barely grab hold of the seconds that slip by us.

It is a world that shows no mercy for pause.

But there are times when my little sister can feel like her world is pieced together by nothing but pauses. Pauses that are foreign to an unfamiliar ear, pauses that are absent of the voice that is expected. Pauses that sound like seconds flat.

And so the name is given another meaning. My little sister is 15 years old, hilarious, and possesses a deeply caring heart. She is also a person who stutters. I want to share her story, and the story of people who stutter everywhere. I want to be a connection between people without much information and those who have mountains to share. I want to make sure every second is measured by love and not impatience. I want to tell you about seconds flat.