Nicknames
Our family isn’t much for nicknames: although my father used to call my mother “puddin’”. It drove my grandmother crazy…”Doesn’t he know your name?” Kate would ask when he called her house.
Fast forward to the birth of my youngest brother. When he was born, I was 12, Steve was 9, Dave was 7 and Mark was 5. We were lying on the living room floor watching Wyatt Earp on the telly, it was black and white in the 50’s. The housekeeper had left, we were in our pj’s waiting for our dad to return from the hospital. The house was warm; we had had our dinner and were so cozy. The sibling skirmishes so common with boys who were like puppies, always wrestling, had abated.
Wyatt Earp was one of our heroes. At 12 years of age, I appreciated how handsome he was and of course he always caught the bad guys.
The door opened and cold air swept through the living room; we could hear it close; dad removing his galoshes and hanging up his long, black winter coat, probably sliding his whit silk scarf into the sleeve. A couple of heavy steps and he was standing in the archway to the living room. Our dad was over six feet, tall, dark and handsome, an Errol Flynn look alike. And from our prone positions on the carpet he looked like a giant!
“Well …you have a baby brother…What would you like to call him?” Since we had been hoping for a sister and names had been chosen this could be a dilemma.
Without hesitating, resenting our program’s being interrupted, we responded in one voice” Wyatt Earp” then turned back to the telly. Dad gave one of his shrugs, laughed and headed to the kitchen for a rye and ginger. Giving birth must have been exhausting for him.
My brothers and I thought that we had been taken seriously, silly us. The newest addition was (unbeknown to us) christened Christopher Charles. But, when he was brought home, all 9 lbs 6oz of him, we called him Wyatt Earp. Our parents humoured us by referring to him as Wyatt Earp as well. I don’t remember when but at some point, it was shortened to Earp or Earpy and he has lived the last 60 years by that name.
When someone would call the house and ask for Chris, my mom would tell them that they had the wrong number. Over the years people thought his name was Herb or Herpes or perhaps the speaker had just burped.
My baby brother will always be a brown eyed redhead Earp to me.