What's in a name?

When I first started writing this blog, I made the conscious decision not to use the names of my family members. Thinking about it now; I can't remember why I made that decision, other than it having something to do with my fantasy that "The Bumpy Ride" would be read far and wide; and then the distinct possibility would exist that I might piss somebody off, in which case my families anonymity would be paramount. Ha Ha Ha.
So now we're in present day and I think it's safe to assume that my 8 readers - LOL all know my family members names; so from here on out I will refer to them as: Luis -my husband, also sometimes known as Eb (short for Ebenezer - need I say more...) or Ricky during my most Lucy-esque stories. My 8 1/2 year old son Nicolas,(aka Nicky) my 6 year old daughter Lyndzi and my 4 year old daughter, Kelsie (sometimes referred to as Stitch - yes, as in Stitch from Disney's "Lilo and Stitch" - again, need I say more?) I mean Queen of Over thinking that I am - you HAVE to know that I gave MORE than a great deal of thought and consideration to my children's names; so by all means, I should use them.
For instance, I wanted to name my son Noah. I was looking for a boy name that started with the letter N so that I could name him after my Grandfather Nathan. I LOVED the name Noah (and contrary to what Big V may think, it had nothing to do with Rick Springfield and GH - though would that be so bad?) Anyway, Luis was CERTAIN that his family (all residing in Mexico) would call him No-a. I myself didn't think that a short A sound should be that difficult for them; but he was adamant. I remember telling him, "OK, we'll make his middle name Jose and then they can call him No-A Jose." And for those of you who might not have picked up on my phonetic break down; it would be No Way Jose.
OK so we passed on Noah and decided on Nicolas instead; and in the meantime, my sister-in-law gave birth to Vladamir. That's right, you read that correctly; and yes they live in Mexico and NO they are not Russian, and guess what... No one has any trouble calling him Vlady (except me, because it's just weird) and now, we are awaiting the birth of my brother-in-law's son, Axel in May. Hmm, no short A in either of those names huh?? Luis says that we can change Nicky's name, but I think at 8 1/2 that ship has sailed. Aahh Well...

Luis is one of six children. His oldest sister is named Josefina (though she's only ever called Pina or cheppy. According to Luis, his older brother's name is Jose Guadalupe. Luis' given name is Jose Luis, and then there is Ignacio (Nacho), Alicia and Erika. Now although his given name is Jose Luis; in the 14 years that we have been together; I have NEVER heard anyone in his family call him Jose or even Jose Luis. It is ALWAYS Luis, and only Luis and same goes for his older brother - they call him Lupe or his wife calls him Guadalupe, but NEVER Jose Guadalupe or Jose. (Maybe I could call one of my Lisa's Jose instead of one of the Vietnamese names I chose, since Jose isn't really being used - haha) Anyway, when I fill out papers for Luis, I always put his first name as Jose Luis and then no middle name; but when he fills them out he puts Jose as the first and Luis as the middle. It has been the topic of many of our conversations as I have maintained that unlike George Foreman, his mom did not name 3 of her 6 children Jose. I have assured him that Jose Luis is his first name just as a woman's name might be Mary Ann; but he disagrees.
Now I don't know why I haven't thought of this before, but on our drive home to Puerto Vallarta, I told Luis "While we're home, we're going to ask your mom about your name." He laughed and said "OK." So one day we were having breakfast and I urged him to ask his mom about his name; and guess what... the Queen was right - Surprise! Surprise! Luis' first name is Jose Luis and NO middle name; to which my 37year old husband said "I didn't know that." Well allow me to introduce you to yourself - You are Jose Luis Ramos. Of course he will be having an embarrassing little chat with his HR department when he returns to work.

So, with one win under my belt; I decided to press my luck and while we were at Lupe's for lunch, I asked Luis to ask Lupe about his name. Luis once again was SURE that Lupe thought his first name was Jose and his middle was Guadalupe and I of course, feeling extremely confident, maintained that Jose Guadalupe was his first name; so imagine Luis' surprise when he found out that Lupe's given name was actually Lisa - ha ha just kidding, it's actually, just Guadalupe. Jose was used in his baptism but was no where to be found on his birth certificate - no wonder Luis has trouble remembering our kids names - Just kidding; he knows their names, he just forgets how to spell them. Say it with me "Who can make this stuff up?"
Till next time... Paige Karen Howell Ramos
Queen of EVERYTHING