Stacy & Other Names

Daisy called to let me know: Birdie bit her while we waited in line for Disney World's Splash Mountain, not Space Mountain. "How could I mix them up?" she asked. "Space Mountain is fun. Splash Mountain isn't." I promised to correct my mistake. Then I started thinking about names. Maybe "Birdie" should be "Biter" and "Daisy" could be "Tasty." If I were to rename the girls, I should give "Big Guy" a new name. This time of year, it would be "Guy who understands taxes, so I don't have to." Some names last long after their usefulness. When the girls were little, they found a turtle and named her Ashley after the gymnastics teacher they'd met that morning. We never saw that woman again. Ashley lived in our backyard for four years. Then she escaped. And now we're Ashley-free. Bless-her-soul June, the black and orange Halloween kitty, who dug through the trash and aggravated Big Guy, was named after Daisy's kindergarten teacher. I don't know what the teacher would think--especially about the trash. But Daisy loved her teacher and she loved her cat, too. The long ago earthworms that lived in a jar on our kitchen table were "Stacy and her friends," named after Sis's sister-in-law. After one too many worms-on-the-table-while-eating-spaghetti dinners, we turned Stacy and friends loose in a backyard planter. Birdie cried. She didn't think Stacy and her pals were smart enough to avoid the birds. Chances are, she was right. But Stacy--the Sis's sister-in-law Stacy--should be honored over the tears that were shed. If Sis ever told her.