The name's the thing.

Well, I'm officially 74 now. And all this thinking about my birth and life story had me thinking about my name. I was named for my mother's mother, my grandmother, Lucinda Hutchinson Houston Whitt. I've always known and appreciated that. My grandmother Lucinda, or "Mama Lou" as I called her, was a wonderful woman. She was strong and had come through a tough life to become a lovely, caring, Christian woman. I've always admired her.

My mom named me Lucinda Lou because she wanted to call me "Cinda Lou." So I ended up with double "Lu"s. But I don't remember anyone but her calling me "Cinda." Almost everyone called me "Cindy" until my late thirties when I insisted on being called "Lucinda." My dad often called me "Pesky" and my brother had several unpleasant nicknames for me: "Fatty", "Lulu" [for the cartoon character], "Elsie the Borden Cow".

And yesterday I was wondering if my grandmother ever had nicknames. I don't remember many people calling her Lucinda. Of course, I was a kid and didn't hear her called much besides "Mom", Mama Lou, or Louie. So I went back to read an article my great-aunt wrote about her parents and childhood in the hills, which would be the story of my grandmother as well. She said my grandmother Lucinda had been called Louie by her family for most of her life.

That story of their childhood is fascinating in its detail. It described the lives of her parents growing up in the hills of Vinton County, Ohio in the 1800's, a hard-scrabble life indeed. And they had a large family to support through all of the difficulties of that life. I certainly come from sturdy stock.

There is still a lot for me to learn about my own parents' lives and my birth into their family, so I'll be digging out my mother's journals in the near future.

Stay tuned! In the meantime, think about your parents' and grandparents' stories and appreciate them as the foundation of your life. Share if you like. I know I'd be interested, so others probably would be as well.