Welcome Christmas, Christmas Day

Welcome, welcome! Fah who rahmus!
Welcome, welcome! Dah who dahmus!
Christmas Day is in our grasp!
So long as we have hands to clasp!

I was only going to do 10 Christmas songs, and then the movie, "The Grinch Who Stole Christmas" came on TV. And so I added this one, simply to write about my Uncle Ronnie. He's my mother's younger brother and he gave me the nickname I have had my whole life...Cindy Lou Who. My sister gave me the nickname Pfred when we were teens and she still calls me that sometimes. But it's Cindy Lou that most people in my family call me.

Uncle Ronnie had a nickname for everyone though, starting with my mother. He always called her Sister, or simply Sis. My cousins never called her "Aunt Pat." She was always Sister. When she was young, her brothers teased her (and each other) in all sorts of ways, not the least of which was about her speech. Being deaf, she took speech lessons as she grew up, but she never really mastered the difference between the "sh" and "ch" sounds and they loved to give her grief about it. They'd ask her if she wanted shocolate ship cookies or ice cream and she'd get so irritated with them. So when she married a man named Richard, his nickname became Rishard.

My sister's name was Susie. When she was little, sometimes they called her Susie-Q, but eventually the Q dropped off and she was just Susie. She was named after both her grandmothers, Sue and Helen which were combined for Suellen. But mostly, my uncle just called her Susie. He called my brother Axelrod. I simply have no idea where that came from. I should ask him. My youngest sister was Barbie for a long time. My dad called her Bunny. I wonder if he still does ever...

My Uncle had names for other people too. His in-laws were Monga and Bacca. His youngest son was "The Professor." Mostly because David wore glasses and was so serious compared to his brothers. I had another cousin we called Nonnie, and another we called Bumpy (and later, Bump).

I think my Uncle got all this nick-naming from his dad. My grandfather went by Gov, and my grandmother went by Mimi. Her parents were Daddy Jake and Big Muddy. Five generations later, my daughters have their nicknames too. I suppose there is a sense of belonging when you have a nickname. Sometimes, they can be a term of endearment.

"Welcome Christmas while we stand,
Heart to heart, and hand to hand"
--Dr. Seuss