Some days are Sunny, others are a B*tch

My Husband's family had some strange nick names

Write about nicknames. What nicknames do you have for people in your life? What nicknames do others use to refer to you? Do any of these names have an interesting story for how they came to be?

I found this to be an interesting prompt because of my late ex-husband and his family. I come from a Michigan family where nicknames are usually a shortened version of your proper name. For instance, my full name is Kathleen Debra Carpenter and I was always called "Kathie". My Dad called me "Toots" once in a while. I don't know where he got that from but I loved it. Dad didn't call my brothers anything special that I know of. To my Mom, I was called "honey" but that is an endearment. Dad called Mom "dear".

I married when I was just eighteen to a man 10 years older, a man born in Georgia with a family very different from my own. They ate different kinds of food, went on vacation together, and were more family oriented. It took some getting used to.

See, we ran off and got married. Yes, we eloped to Alabama and I was running away from home. Mom and I could never agree on anything. I thought this man was the answer to all my problems.

Sorry, the piece is about nicknames but I needed to give some background. Now this is his family:

His Dad was called "Granny" ( he complained a lot at work)
Mom was called "Shorty" ( she was taller than her husband?)
My husband was called "Chief" or "Bubba"( common for brother)
Younger brother was called "Peewee" (he was a premature baby)
There were Uncles: Paul (Sucker), Earl (Squirrel), his wife was called "Lightening" (she moved like molasses)

All the other grandkids had nick names also. My boys were "Peanut" and the youngest "Tear all) That suited him actually.
I thought this was so strange but learned to love these people, I wasn't left out-I became "Punkin". So I knew I was accepted by the family. One person's idea of strange is another's idea of family.

I loved this man and we were happy for many years, we divorced after twenty anniversaries. We had separate lives by then. Our boys were grown. I have remarried. My ex-husband, sadly, died in 2001 from COPD. He gave me 2 wonderful sons and I have wonderful memories.