WHAT'S IN A NAME?

Renee (right) with Adi-Shakti

As far back as I can remember, I have amused myself and others, by making up nicknames for my friends and family. Best part of all…they stuck. Turns out, other people started calling them by that name too.

When I was twelve I felt like my mother watched my every move. I started calling her The Fox. This may not be a nickname, but eventually my sisters started to call her The Fox too. And, I felt really cool.

My grandmother's long time companion’s name was Bucky. Longing for a grandfather, and just being Renee, I always called him Pappy. Soon the whole family did. I can still hear my mother saying..."Come out back. Pappy's playing his harmonica."

My cousin Kim, was, and still is, called Ella-though-Mort-ee. Her passionate Greek grandmother would scream out something that sounded similar to this, whenever she saw Kim at her door. I thought it was hysterical, and so, I started to call Kim…nothing but, Ella-though-Mort-ee. Kim’s mom and brothers do the same.
When I realized my cousin Gregory’s middle name was Angelo, on the spot, I started calling him Ang (pronounced like Angie without the ie). I think even his wife calls him Ang now.

My sisters and I have a dear friend named Steve. He is a pretty silly guy, and he showed up one year at a Halloween party dressed as a huge white egg. If you combine that with the fact that Steve doesn’t usually go in the sun, I started referring to him as White. Now we call him nothing but. Here is the email I just sent to my sister Val. Is White joining us on Easter?

White (center)after some fun in the sun

My friend Lori’s brother, Stewart, who always shows up to help fix my computer is God-B. I don’t have a brother and, Stewart is so powerful with his computer skills… I started calling him my God-Brother…G-B for short. And now Lori calls him that too. Side note, Lori is really Lynne…but, I call her Lori.

There is an entertainer my family and I enjoy seeing called James Montgomery. Naturally, I started calling him Jimmy Mont, and the girls followed suit. I have a phone message from one of my sisters that says, Jimmy Mont is playing in Providence tonight…

When my God-son Ryan was in a band, I called them Love-Nest, while they went by another name all together.

The list is endless, and my head spins at the thought of all the names for people and places I have come up. Some are private, and some will be mentioned in my books…But, for now I can say, Bettye is Be, Brian is Bre, Diane is DD, and Carroll is C. When I go to New York with White, we call it New Nork, and Jimmy Mont’s song Down in Florida, is referred to as Flor-fee-dah.

In this crazy and scary world… a little lightness goes a long way. I smiled all the way through this post. And, I know my friends who are reading this will chuckle too. I hope some of you will share your favorite nicknames.

This works both ways. I just counted seven fabulous and precious nicknames that others have given me…needless to say; this post will be continued…

And, dear sister Pam, who is P.M., help me think of a few names I might have missed. You can leave it in the comment section. I hope to hear from you all.

Adi-Shakti's name means All Power, to be able! I believe that was the name given to her by her guru.
Did you know that onomatology is the study of names?