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Wednesday, September 21, 2011

life's a mystery

ABC Wednesday's letter du jour is J--as in James, my dad. He was born last century in 1910 at home in his mother's kitchen and lived to be 83.

The story goes that his given name was Vincenzo. When his Italian mother called him home to dinner, Vinnie sounded like Jimmy. So he became a James. I don't quite buy it, and now all of his siblings are gone too, so I guess Jimmy it is. A moot point.
More J words, mysterious or not, here.

11 comments:

jabblog said...

It is a bit of a leap from Vincenzo to James, but who knows! I know a Bobbie but her given name is Cecilia . . .

Daryl said...

This makes me remember the family photo we found after my parents passed and we were packing up their condo ... my sister and I could only guess who each of the children in the photo were tho we recognized our grandparents easily .. sadly there was no one from Mom's side left who could fill in the blanks ...

Roger Owen Green said...

A bit of family history lost. I have a lot of holes in mine, so I can relate.

ROG, ABC Wednesday team

Hildred said...

We have Vincents in our family, as well, - Charles' grandfather and our youngest son. However, they all retained their original names, although I'm not sure that anyone called Grandfather Vincent 'Vinnie'.

Nice picture of your Dad, Noni.
BTW we have a granddaughter 'Noni' too. Every bit as delightful as you are.

MaR said...

Interesting story, lovely old shot.

J is for ...

Unknown said...

Just so handsome!
HelenMac
ABC Wednesday Team

Nanka said...

Fun things happen to names and naming!! :)

Mildred said...

Very interesting story about your Dad's name!
Thanks for sharing. And thanks for visiting and taking the time to comment;o)

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Have a nice and happy day****

Susie Clevenger said...

Family history disappearing...my mothers name was Marie but for some reason the family called her Joe..never understood it...:)

Chubskulit Rose said...

Hah, very interesting. Jimmy is a good name.

My ABC entry, please come and see. Thanks!

Julie Kwiatkowski Schuler said...

Strange evolution of the name. Perhaps a deliberate attempt to sound less ethnic in a tough job market, too. I know if your name ended in -ski you got paid less at the steel mills.