So let me tell you the story of how I got the name Oz.
I have no children. That's another story too, or, maybe not a story just a series of decisions, but, the fact remains I have never had a child of my own. However... I've had the privilidge of being an auntie to many. The first close relationship I had with a child would have to be that with my nephew Aaron. He was six and a kindergardner or first grader at Caribbean School. I was a senior that year (still a child myself really). In a sea of strangers, I was his only family face and even though I was in separate building 'far far away' from his classroom... when the going got rough Aaron ran to his auntie Laura. :) We saw a lot of Aaron in the senior lounge that year! We were close before, but that year the relationship changed an got a little tighter. We were buddies. I liked it. Actually, I was close to all three of my sister's children growing up. Aaron, Amber and Ammon never really had a nickname for me. Just Ti Ti, which is spanish slang for Aunt (Tia).
After College I moved west to California and I lived with my brother David and his wife Charlene. They have two sons, Brian and Davey. (Sorry Davey, I just can't call ya Dave). Those boys and I became fast buddies too. Brian was just learning to talk the first time I lived with them, and he had some difficulty pronouncing my name. Laura is a bit of a tongue twister for kids. With him, it came out Yayee. (Oh, did I mention my brother David is one of the few in my family who called me Laurie?, thus the yee). Anyway.. I was Yayee . And I liked it. I haven't had the pleasure of really getting to know the grand-nephew and grand-nieces that Davey and Brian both have now, but when Brian and Aimee visited last year, their little ones knew I was Yayee.
So TiTi and Yayee were nicknames given to me by little family members with love. I still adore being called either one of those. But, at the time I was given those names I was a young woman starting out on my life's adventure and I still had dreams of someday hearing the ultimate nickname of love; Mom. I love children. I love the way they look at the world. The simplicity of their emotions. The honesty of their expressions. As much as I loved them, I really never thought about not having any of my own... it would always be later.
I got older (notice I didn't say grew up), I got married, I worked. Things happened and I never made having children a priority in my life. Due to life choices and health related complications, by my mid 30's I knew that children of my own were not going to be an option. Oddly, I believe having had young children factor significantly in my teen years made me less inclined to hurry up and have the american dream of 2 kids, 2 cars, and a white picket fence.
In 1998 we moved to St. Croix in the US Virgin Islands. I was 39. But, by 39 I was pretty positive that that wasn't going to be the case.
2024 edit....did I seriously never finish this?
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