Undaunted Joy #52

The Joy of Nicknames

I married into a family that nicknames.

My family was not like this.  There were no terms of endearment.  There was no mythology or inside jokes. 

My husband, Justo is one of six children. Five of which are men. It took me 20 years to realize that “Woody” was the man I married (or is it Luis? I still can’t get it straight.) Or is it Noodles? Or Howie?

I do know that one brother is nicknamed “Sport” because he made the mistake of wearing shorts to work at the family gas station…..FOURTY YEARS AGO! “Go put some real pants on Sporty”

Because of this predilection for nicknames, I was given the name “Kitty” when after 13 years of friendship, Justo and I decided to begin dating. When our sons were born, they were called a million different names some of which I cannot even remember their origins: Chubbus, Chumlee, Chunk Light Tuna, and Chunk-kitty.

During my oldest’ s short stint at a Spanish language preschool, eager to show his Abuelito his new language skills, he told him his name was “Blondie” in Spanish and that his brother’s was “Tuco”. It would be years before he watched The Good, the Bad and the Ugly and discovered where those names came from.

Years ago, when I would tuck my youngest into bed, he would ask me to say good night to him using all of his names. He thought all the nicknames where his middle names. Then he caught on that they were endearments, sweet words to show him that I loved him, so he decided they needed to be names he liked, like “Batman.” Then he decided these names needed to be seasonal.

Call me your little ghost. He said at bedtime one Halloween week.

Good night little ghost.

Call me your little Thanksgiving turkey.

Good night little turkey.

He kept it up during Christmas with your “little Christmas tree”, your “little stocking”, your “little present.” I couldn’t help but snort laugh when at four years of age, he asked me to call him my “little Nat King Cole.”

He’s twelve years old and nearly six feet tall now. He has a new nickname, “Baby Huey”.

He does not know the reference.