"Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature, nor do the children of men as a whole experience it. Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. Life is either a daring adventure, or nothing. " -Helen Keller

Friday, April 15, 2011

M is for Mick

Mick or Mickey

1. Slang: Usually disparaging and offensive - a slang name for an Irishman or a Roman Catholic

2. My Dad

Yes, my dad, an American of Irish Catholic descent goes by the name Mick...specifically, Mick O'Donnell. Even funnier is that it was his mother's fault he carries that nickname.

According to family lore, shortly after my Grandma Aggie and Grandpa Odie got married, they started trying to have children. While they eventually went on to have 3 kids, 2 boys and a girl, that first baby, my dad was extremely slow to come. My Grandma had a little picture of a baby that she kept in her kitchen (think or a Gerber baby picture) and, as she got frustrated over their unsuccessful efforts to have a baby, she started shaking her fist at the picture every time she walked by it.And, every time she shook her fist at that picture, she would say "When are you going to get here you little Mick?" Well, when my dad was born, he carried on the family tradition of being named after his father. He carried the rather unwieldy moniker of Owen Joseph O'Donnell III. That wasn't what he was called though. From day one, he was my Grandma's little Mick or just Mick. That has led to a lifetime of "No, I'm sure. My name isn't Mickey or Michael. It is Owen." I think sometimes even the family forgets that his given name isn't Mick.

To the rest of the family he is Mick, Uncle Mickey, or Grandpa Mick. To me he is simply Dad.

6 comments:

Jen said...

ha ha, love it!

Tara Tyler said...

we used the same M! (great Minds =)
happy m day!

_ said...

Aww, great story!

Hart Johnson said...

Oh cute story! I love that your grandma must have fallen in love with the name after using it for so long.

Huntress said...

Oh, LOVE this blog.

Thank goodness for A to Z for hooking me up with so many wonderful bloggers.

This post about Mick plastered a big smile on my face.
Thank you for the opportunity to enjoy and revel :)

Quiet Dreams said...

I love that story!