Overheard: Noel. Noel, Barney’s the king of Israel.

Noel is Leon spelled backwards.
Leon was my dad’s name. Only strangers and his dad and sister called him that. His dad (Harlow) and sister (Morna) called him Lian and strangers called him LEE-on. Leon, Morna and Harlow, when’s the last time you met somebody with those names?

Almost as interesting as Cass, Tim and Zig: all women.(My mother and her sisters.)

My mom and their friends called my dad Veep.

No L in Veep.

Early in their marriage, my mother thoughtdad needed a nickname. She didn’t like his given name. The obvious one was to call him Van, because that was the first part of his last name. But also at the same time President Harry Truman’s vice-president was “The Veep.”

Mother liked the sound of that and started calling dad Veep. V.P. which are the initials of his last name = Vice President. Which lead to many chats with strangers who eventually asked “who’s Veep?” and “what is he Vice President of?”

Ice broken!

Truman’s Veep was Alben Barkley, a western Kentucky boy who was known as “Iron Man” because of his campaigning ability.

Iron Man.

Now that’s a nickname.

You can all me Aluminum Man. Renew. Recycle. Reuse.

Joyeux_Noël!