Growing up I always wanted a nickname. I even tried making up a few myself. My friends never did catch on to it and soon I moved on, till the next time. I don't know what it was about nicknames that intrigued me so much. I guess it meant you had made such an impression on someone (a good one or otherwise) that it merited a title. Of course you had your typical ones.... Tiny always went to a large person, Lucky was tagged to those who were accident prone or who "if they didn't have bad luck they would have no luck at all" kind of people.
When I married my husband it seemed my father-in-law had a nickname for everybody, and I thought here is my chance. One day he will come up with a name for me. But then again what was wrong with just calling me by my name! After all that is why I was given one when I was born. But a few years went by and still I had no nickname.
Even my mother-in-law gave people nicknames. This wasn't necessarily a good thing in my book. Hers wasn't really nicknames, she intentionally would call you by someone else' name.
Then the day came. I was 49 years old and was going to be a grandma again after 10 years. Ok, I was going to be picking out my own nickname......again, but maybe this time it would stick. I didn't want to be the standard Meme, Nana, MawMaw, Memaw, etc. Not that there is anything wrong with those names, but the other grandma was going to be called Nana, and another was already MawMaw, and so on.
I began to do research for this momentous event in my life. I went to the internet, Google to be exact, and typed in "grandma names". I really liked the name Nonny but my oldest son' name is Lonny and I didn't want to take away from him when the child started to speak and it sounded like he/she was saying Lonny when in reality he/she was saying Nonny. So after great consideration I decided on "Gannie". I was so excited!
So for weeks, months and just a few years I have been referred to as Gannie. My grandson, E. is 3-1/2 years old now. But you know what......more and more he is calling me "Drwannie". That's right....Drwannie! (I don't know how he can roll that "r" and "w" together, but it's so cute.
Yes, E. gave me my first nickname all by hisself....and he isn't even old enough to write!! Why, I didn't need a mature adult to give me one, all I needed was a young, innocent child who loved me and who knew I loved him.Well ok, maybe he had trouble sometimes saying Gannie and it came out Drwannie, but to me it is a beautifull name and one I will cherish. Thanks E.
Drwannie loves you!
1 comment:
When Sarah had our first grandchild, before he could speak, I chose Grammy. That's what my husband called his grandmother, who lived with them. She died when he was a little boy but we still have some of the cards with her signature. So Grammy it was. That's what I'll be called and everyone born after that doesn't get to pick - I chose it in honor of her. It sounds nice and soft and lovey, just what I want to be to them.
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