MY NAME

Who gave you your name and why? Did you have a nickname? How did you get it?

I am not sure why I was named James. It is not a family name since I am the only blood relative I know with this name. Dad once surprised Mom when he pointed out that all of us were intentionally given biblical names. That just might be the extent of it.

My middle name is Gordon and I do know a little more about that. My mother's oldest brother's middle name was Gordon. His son also has Gordon as his middle name. I guess this just begs the question since we are the only Gordons in our family.

Other than the standard diminutives for James, I did not have any nicknames. For most of my life, people of my parents' generation called me Jimmy. Kids of my generation still call me Jim. I like to be called Jim even though when I write/type my name I almost always use James.

For a six month period, we lived with my maternal grandparents. I stayed in my grandfather's room. He was an invalid and needed a hospital bed and a lot of help. He consistently called me Boy. Although others knew this and remember this fact from time to time, it did not stick. "Boy" was more associated with Grandfather and me rather than me alone.