Do any of your family members have unexplained nicknames? My oldest relative on my Chinese side has been called "Crying Uncle"
for as long as I can remember. He tends to get emotional at all our family functions; I always supposed he just had a sensitive nature.
I never gave it a second thought until earlier this year, when someone dropped the
actual reason he has trouble containing his emotions: the psychological trauma he sustained during the Communist Revolution. How I missed
that bit of backstory my whole life, I really don't know.
But that's not even the most unusual nickname in my family by any stretch. My dad has been called "Rick" pretty much his whole
life. It's how his friends know him, and my mom, and even his siblings. His real name?
Nowhere close to Rick. And I have no idea how that one came about, either. I'm starting to think I've missed more than a little backstory.
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With regret for the embarrassingly uncreative nickname,
“Becca”
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Rebecca Quon | she/her/hers
Program Officer
Council on Library & Information Resources (CLIR)