What’s In A Name?

Mom and Dad "horsing around" on a camping trip

One of Dad’s quirks that was so endearing to anyone who spent much time around him was his “creativeness” when it came to identifying certain things by name.  He often got what he considered to be the details mixed up; this wasn’t a memory problem – it just wasn’t a priority for him to remember the exact name or pronunciation of certain things.  It was usually pretty easy to figure out what he was talking about if it was mentioned in context; it was like a guessing game other times, but either way it was always entertaining.

For example, Dad asked his granddaughters, “Have you heard of this Michael Boubble [he said it like bobble] guy?  What’s his name?  Michael Bluhbluh?”  They deciphered from the conversation, which was about music, that he meant Michael Buble.  They told him that most of Michael Buble’s fans were middle-aged women, but Dad said he didn’t care, he really liked the guy's music too. 

When the movie “Pirates of the Caribbean” was released, Dad said he wanted to take his grandchildren to see it, but he kept referring to it (even after they’d seen it) as “The Pilots of the Mediterranean.”  They knew what he meant, though; they were used to Gramps’s reinterpretation of things like that and thought it was hilarious.

Before Dad got sick, he read in the news that President Obama had eaten at Five Guys, a fast-food restaurant, in Washington D.C.  Dad thought it was great when his city got a Five Guys; it is actually located not far from the hospital where Dad was taken when he got sick.  As part of our campaign to get Dad to eat more when he was sick, we offered to get him food to-go from any restaurant he wanted, and he said, “I guess I could eat an Obama burger.”  Those of us who hadn’t read the article didn’t know what he was talking about, but luckily those who had caught on and he got the burger he wanted. 

It’s funny what specific things we miss about those who have gone on ahead, like Dad’s renaming which was such a great part of him.   He never had the chance to hear this duet sung by one of his old favorites and one of his new; he probably wouldn’t have remembered the name of it, but he definitely would have enjoyed the music.

This one’s for you, Dad!