Nicknames

My mom loved unusual names.  I think it was because she wanted exceptional children. She probably knew that we weren't going to be anything extraordinary, but at least our names could be. Mom and dad didn't really agree on what to name the children. Older brother was named after my dad, and he was okay with that, but my name, and my little brothers name kind of came out of left field. Mom loved them because they were so unique.  

In his quiet way dad protested, especially with my name. He called me by my middle name for quite a while. He might not have been able to verbalize it at the time, but I think he knew that my name would be a challenge. I was an unattractive child, with buck teeth, glasses and a speech impediment. Needless to say, I've never loved being the center of attention, and my name is a MOUTH FULL. If I had been thinking, I would have changed it when I turned 18. 

When asked for my name, I usually give "Martha Stewart." It worked well for me when I used it as a laser tag identifier and beat a bunch of teenagers. I must have been channeling my inner felon. But when I called and ordered pizza and gave that name, the kid taking my order actually hung up on me. Uh....... hello?

Anyways, dad was the master of nicknames. His family was always twisting names around, and it continues as the family grows. His sister was named "Sarah", but everyone knew her as "Sally." Dad was always called "Norky", and my mom hated it. He called us kids by nicknames as well. Some were just terms of endearment and it was always kind of a treat to hear him use the same names for our kids that he used with us. 

One of the funniest nicknames my dad ever used was for his boss. Dad was a dental lab tech for an orthodontist named Dr. English. He was a short guy with big hairy arms and sausage like fingers. Dentists didn't use gloves at that time and I'm sure you can imagine what it was like to be a child sitting in his chair. Dad always referred to Dr. English as "Stubby". Stubby seemed okay with it.

My older brother was 10 years old when little brother was born. He was so excited to have a brother instead of another sister. It didn't really matter that they were separated by so many years. Older brother picked up one of his nicknames because little brother couldn't say his name. It always came out "Mingy". So the rest of us began using it as well. "Mingy" became "Ming", which became "Emperor Ming" as he got older.

My little brother was tagged by our cousin, Chris. We vacationed in Mammoth every summer and one year, Chris came with us. Little brother was about 2-ish and loved to run around without his diaper. It was quite a funny sight  and the nickname "Buns" was the obvious choice. We all spell it differently. Mings' spelling of choice is "Bunz", whereas mine is "Bunns". I think Buns himself prefers to ignore the fact that he was even given such a nickname.

We used to just shorten his given name, but it always sounded like we were saying "Grunny". I think little brother should be thankful for "Bunns."

Be kindly affectioned one to another 

with brotherly love;

In honor, preferring one another;

Romans 12:10