What Do YOU Call Your Grandparents?

First there's Pop, and then there's Ricky. "Pop" was my grandfather (on my dad's side), and Ricky is my really good friend--more like a brother--who lives in L.A. Pop died long before Ricky was born. They're not related at all, but they have one thing (besides me) in common, and my current reading selection is what binds Pop and Ricky in my mind.

I'm reading a collection of Louis L'Amour short stories right now. Not typical reading for me at all. Not the Oprah's Book Club selection, although L'Amour wrote more than 120 books (mostly westerns) which are all still in print...not too shabby. He wrote from the early '50's to the late '80's. If I had a book club (hmmm?!) I probably wouldn't have Louis L'Amour books on the list. But I am enjoying the book, mostly because I remember Ricky enjoying L'Amour's novels so much.

Before he moved to L.A., I practically lived with Ricky and his brother Randy. I spent as many nights at their house as I did my own. And vice-versa. They occupied my couches and guestrooms just as much. It was basically like the three of us had two houses.

That's beside the point. Here's the point: I remember watching Ricky read dozens of L'Amour's westerns. It always got me smiling to see him stop every few paragraphs and think about the characters. When Ricky reads, Ricky loves the characters, becomes their friends, imagines himself hanging out with them, and then he deliberately slows down his reading as he nears the end of the book, because he doesn't want to say 'good-bye' to them. I've watched him actually stretch the last few pages into hours! And then talk about the characters for the next few days as if they were part of our circle of friends! No kidding! (Aside: Ricky's like that with real people too. I've never met someone who loved people better. Every person he met is instantly "the most beautiful person he's ever met.")

Anyway, Ricky's freakish admiration for westerns reminds me of my grandfather, Pop, who stayed with us when I was a kid for a while. Pop was rarely seen without a paperback western (mostly Louis L'Amour) in his hand, sitting in that scratchy dark brown chair in our living room. My brothers and I were usually watching "Batman" while Pop was reading.

So fast-forward 35 years, when I picked up the Louis L'Amour book in the airport, to read on the plane, and I immediately thought of Ricky and Pop.

And that got me thinking. We called my grandfather "Pop." In fact, my Mom's father was similarly called "Poppy" and we called my two grandmothers "Nanny" and "Nanny Rice".

And since I brought up Ricky, his grandmother, whom I've unofficially adopted, is "Dee Dee" and they call one of his grandfathers "Bumpa."

So where do these names come from? I'm not sure, but I've heard of all kinds of MeeMaw's and PeePaw's over the years--especially since I moved to the South!

Well, just for fun, and a little interaction, does anybody have any cool grandparent names out there? I'd love to hear them. Warning: I know once the endearing thoughts about grandparents start flowing, you'll all be tempted to write Louis L'Amour novels in answer to this question, but try to refrain. Just give us the basics for the purpose of this blog.

But then, as a healthy and soul-searching exercise, I encourage you to spend time journaling and/or writing a novel or two about your own grandparents to share on your own blogs, or to your kids, or in next year's Christmas catch-up letter to family! You might discover or remember something really meaningful!

But for our purpose, let's just stick to the names and maybe a quick story of how they got that name, if you know...

Ok, let's hear 'em! This could get fun!