Knick-Knames

I am the first to admit that I shorten names-- a lot. I've heard that it's a girl-thing. That's my reason and I'm sticking to it. I was given quite a long, old-fashioned name and always longed for something a little spiffier sounding. When I was about 6 my dad asked me what name I would like to go by. There was quite a list to choose from: Eliza, Liz, Lizzy, Betsy, Beth, the list seemed to go on. He listed all the aunt Liz's that I had and how Grandma goes by Beth. After I thought about it, for not very long, I decided on Lizzy because it had two z's and a y. Wouldn't that be great to write in cursive! That lasted maybe a week and then Liz stuck. My older brothers affectionately called me 'greenyhead' (not even gonna capitalize that one) and now call me "Isa"--short for "Isabeau." In college I tried to go back to Elizabeth, but soon noticed how I wasn't answering when people called me. Habits. When Erin was born, I thought in the back of my head that Erin was a short enough name that no one would ever shorten it. Of course you can shorten it! I call her "Er" on a regular basis. And that's not all --when she was a toddler, I called her "scuba" for quite a while. When I heard someone else call her that, I heard how ridiculous it sounded and soon went back to her real name. Caitlin was called "Punkin" for a long time before we settled on Cait. And sometimes still gets called Caiter. Stefanie has been Stef forever but she prefers Stefi--with a heart over the "i." Jace, the only one lucky enough to be given a one-syllable name was actually Jacie for a while and is still sometimes Jacer, J-man, and Buddy. And then there was Benjamin. To me he's not a Ben, but he's called that at school and at church. I don't know any way around it. I've asked people to please at least add the "j" and call him Benj. I've even written notes to teachers, but all to no avail. Last Sunday I was subbing in Primary and heard everyone around him calling him "Ben." I looked around, "Is that my son they're talking about? I have no idea who this Ben is." Maybe shortening/changing names is a family thing--like genetics. You get it from those around you. It's contagious. Does every family do this? You try out a name and keep it around for a while. See how it fits in the setting. See how other people like it --or not. Dust it off occasionally and when it's out-of-date, chuck it.

Graduation !

The highlight of June was graduation! Yeah! Erin worked extremely hard in school and graduated in the top 8%. She was in National Honor Society, National Art Honor Society, Texas Scholars, and more. She was the winner of the CFWC scholarship and is now focusing on fall.

Other June activities: trumpet camp and scout camp for Jace, Girl's camp and EFY for Cait and Stef, dance camp for Stef, swim team, working hard for Erin and Cait learning to juggle two jobs. Lots of busy-ness and fun!