When I was talking with my mother this past weekend, I asked her how I got my nickname, Cabbie. I remember that both my father, mother and other family members have called me "Cabbie" off and on throughout my life. Today when I hugged my sister, Debi, bye, she called me Cabbie. To me, it's a rather tender nickname. Mother explained that she was the one who came up with my nickname. She liked to add an "ie" to her children's names as an affectionate form of their names...Terry, Joanie, Debi, Bethie. However, she didn't like Carrie for me - so she changed it to Cabbie, and Cabbie it remained. No one outside of the family ever uses the nickname, but I really like it when the family uses it. Maybe it's the sweet childhood memories that it evokes.
When my first granddaughter, Sweet Stuff, was born, I gave her a soft little stuffed animal - a dog. My daughter thought it was clever to give stuffed animals the names of whoever gave them. So the little dog became Cabbie. It turned out to be Sweet Stuff's favorite toy. She couldn't sleep unless she was holding Cabbie. As soon as I realized how attached she was to Cabbie, I got on eBay and found as many of the same little dogs as I could find. The company no longer made then, but there were collectors who still had them. I believe I ended up with six or seven of them. (Yes, I tend to go overboard - but I hated to think of Sweet Stuff EVER wanting one and not being able to have it!) Although the others dogs are fine occasionally as a poor substitute, she knows which one is the original Cabbie, and none of the others can replace it. At one point I thought that it would be nice to have my grandchildren call me Cabbie instead of Grandma Carol - but when I suggested it, Sweet Stuff looked at me like I was crazy. Cabbie was her treasured stuffed animal -- not Grandma Carol! It'll be funny to see her face the first time she hears someone in my family call me Cabbie.
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2 comments:
Mom, it is funny you wrote this. Sweet Stuff and I had a very long conversation about this exact topic just a couple of days ago. I think she finally understands that Cabbie was named after you. She has always known you gave her Cabbie. Also, the other Cabbie's don't even come close to the original. She sniffs them to tell the difference. Though now the original is the most worn.
That's so sweet :)
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