Other than a few hits for "Carnegie Mellon," I couldn't find any photos in the Tulsa World's system that matched any of the older family names I blogged about -- except for my Aunt Mattie Pearl. Here, a selection of Mattie Pearl's Bar-B-Que sauce, taken inside Oklahoma Style Bar-B-Que in Tulsa earlier this fall. JAMES GIBBARD/Tulsa World
Mamaw would cut my water off if she knew I was telling you this.
"Cut his/her water off" was a phrase she used time to time, typically in reference to someone whose actions either needed or were about to be stopped. Or, a bit more literally, in reference to the neighbor's dog who would run to her back yard to tinkle. I'll spare you the details there.
But she'd no doubt tell me to hush if I repeated an exchange she had with her younger sister, my Aunt Mattie Pearl. They were a hoot and a half to just sit and listen to when I was growing up.
Apparently, Mamaw couldn't keep Aunt Mattie Pearl's new son-in-law's name straight. It was Colon (or, at least, I think that's how it's spelled).
"Just remember a gut," Aunt Mattie Pearl said.
Theirs is a generation brimming with really cool, unusual names. Like Mamaw's, which is Valencia Murtis -- or maybe it's Myrtis. Either way, she doesn't like talking about her middle name, and she's gone by Val since before I was born. Distant relatives her age call her "Vuh-LENCE-ee."
On my Mom's side, Mamaw Walters -- whose name was Alice -- had sisters named Frema, Elladean and Katie, the latter of whom married Mellon D. From what I recall, the D doesn't stand for anything particular, and he never went by just Mellon -- always Mellon D.
I love these old names. They stand out from the crowd, for sure -- unlike Jason. Granted, a common name was one less reason I was harassed in school; but half the boys born in the mid-'70s seemed to have been named Jason.
Anyway, I love it when new parents name their kids something old-fashioned -- like Grace or Darcy, names that don't seem borrowed from early '90s soap operas or romance novels. Not that there's ANYTHING wrong with that, mind you.
When I moved from Mississippi to Oklahoma, it didn't take me long to figure out that the name game was played quite the same in both states. So what are some of your family's more interesting names?
Peace, love and Mellons ... XOXO
