Thursday, December 17, 2009

A Catchy name.

I got an email the other day from a new friend of mine who reads my blog and suggested that I explain how I got the nickname "Catchy." I thought it was a good suggestion but it's not much of a story, really . . .

When my older sister was pregnant with her first child, Emma, we were all trying to figure out what we wanted to be called. It's really a big decision because it's the name you're going to have for the rest of your life so you want to make sure that you pick the right one. My mom opted for "Dearest" because she had always loved how the little kid in the movie Little Lord Fauntleroy (never thought I'd have to spell THAT in my blog . . .) called his mother "Dearest." We reminded her of the whole "Mommy Dearest" connection but she was not budging. My dad opted for Grandpa - a classic for a classic man. My younger sister, Erin, and I decided that we would just be Aunt Catherine and Aunt Erin or whatever Emma decided to call us.

When Emma began talking, she called my mom "Dearsie" and my mom loved it. So she declared that "Dearsie" was her new name and we all stopped calling her "Dearest." Emma had no problem with Grandpa or Auntie Erin but, for some reason, she said "Catherine" as "Catchy." And that was it. It was my new name and it took on a life of its own: people in all areas of my life began to call me Catchy - work, church, friends . . . everyone. And I love it.

I also love that it was THIS nickname that caught on like wildfire and not my childhood nickname . . . . Wee Wee.

Yep. Wee Wee.

How did I get that name? I'm glad you asked . . .

When my mom was pregnant with my sister Erin, she was REALLY sick the whole time and spent most of her pregnancy lying down. Tammy was five years older than me and helped to take care of me when my mom was sick. And she gave me raw hot dogs all the time because I liked them. I know - classy, right? So my family started calling me "Weiner" and then that morphed into "Weenie."

Awesome.

So that name stuck for a while until after Erin was born and started talking. She couldn't say "Weiner" so she said "Wee Wee."

Awesomer.

So you can understand why I'm so thankful that "Catchy" is the name that stuck. And I'm thankful for what it stands for, too - for the wonderful privilege of being an aunt. I love that role and am so thankful that the Lord has entrusted me with that responsibility. It's so much fun.

Tonight I was at my mom's house with my sisters and their kids. The kids were upstairs playing and my mom, my brother-in-law, and my sisters and I were sitting down at my mom's dining room table talking. My youngest niece, Avery, came downstairs and stared at us from a distance until someone asked her what she was doing. She pointed to me and said "Catchy, I'm drawing a picture of YOU and I need to know what color your eyes are." She squinted to try to see from where she was but then she decided to come over and get a closer look. So she got right in my face and stared at my eyes for a small eternity. Then she went back upstairs to finish her picture. Here is the final product:

It's quite a remarkable likeness, don't you think? But I think my favorite part is how she spent so much time nailing down the color of my eyes aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand then gave me blue hair. It's like she spent all the attention-to-detail energy she had on getting the eyes right. Hilarious. And is it wrong to be jealous of a picture's lips? Because I kind of am. I mean, I'd love to have lips so big that my face can't contain them.

As an after-thought, she added the sunglasses so that I could be "peace out."

Yep . . . I love being Catchy.

6 comments:

Unknown said...

Let's not forget Eri Poo Poo or Tam Tink! They managed to lose those!

Emma said...

Laughing all over again at the blue hair and LOVE the peace out addition!

Unknown said...

There were nine of us running around the house when I was growing up and my Dad, in frustration, just called us Tom, Dick and Harry. BUT, someone was called "shitshoes". I can't remember which one of us was so blessed. So all of you got lucky!!

Unknown said...

Love it! Same way I got the name Dinah. Amanda couldn't say Diana. And for some reason when I worked for my Aunt and Uncle they started calling me Diana do. You know Diana do this or Diana do that. So when Amanda came around I became Dinah Doo. When I was little I was booger..... which my older sister still calls me. I was also Miner Diner. ??? I still get an occasional Diner and sometimes Diner Doo by my mom. Dad calls me D-R. And certain people call me DeeDee, Dinanna, and Smitty. So there you have it. Way better then Booger or WeeWee! HA!

Unknown said...

Okay, Nora, THAT family nickname is hilarious.

And Catchy, I love the blue hair! Maybe you should check into this . . .

Phyllis Eddings said...

Well, gonna confess mine. Thankfully, it never really left the house. Piddlebutt. Yes, isn't that lovely? I was a dawdling child, would never stay focused on getting ready to go somewhere, or getting my room clean...I "piddled around" a lot. Mom called me that, and when she wants to annoy me, my older sister, Joyce, still does.