Nicknames

When I was a newborn I had to stay in the NICU due to fluids in my lungs. My dad called me ‘bad seed’ infront of my mom and she almost divorced him on the spot. That was my first of many nicknames. I love all of my nicknames. My mom calls me ‘Catie bug’, ‘bugly’, or ‘bug of love’ and my dad calls me ‘pumpkin’ and ‘kiddo’. My birth name is Catherine, but most people call me Cate. Only my close friends have the privilege of calling me Catherine. My coaches call me ‘KB’ which is a portion of my last name scrunched together, or they just call me by my last name. I get called ‘long body’ by my closest friends due to my height.  

Family reunions are not so fun. I am one of 16 grandchildren and when my grandpa is one of nine kids, there are a lot of names I get called that are not mine. At the last reunion over the summer, my great Uncle Pat, My Grandpa’s brother, called me Caitlin. Now it could’ve been a hearing problem, but his wife called me Caitlin too! I’ve come to realize that in a sea of people, the name Cate isn’t exotic or special. It’s the nicknames behind my name is what makes it special. All of my friends, family, and teachers have their own name they call me.