Today, December 4, is my father's birthday. He was born in 1935 in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey.
He used to tell family members that his nickname when he was growing up was "Sunny." We automatically interpreted that as "Sonny" because he was a junior, and Sonny is a common nickname for juniors. He insisted it was Sunny, for his "sunny" disposition. All of his children laughed uproariously at that. Not that he was a major grump or anything, but a sunny disposition was not something we associated with him.
I thought I had resolved the issue recently with the help of the great scanned photo bonanza that I received from my sister. On one of the photos I recognized my grandfather's handwriting on the phrase "Sonny and Me."
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| My grandfather holding my father, maybe January 1936 (Grampa's handwriting) |
I gleefully cackled to myself, thinking, "Aha, here's the proof! Daddy was trying to fool us!"
But then I found another photo, this one with my grandmother's handwriting, "Sunny on Davenport", when my father was a little older.
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| My father, maybe about 4 years old? (Nana's handwriting) |
So now I don't know after all. Maybe he started off with Grampa calling him Sonny because he was a junior, and Nana adapted that to Sunny because he really did have a sunny disposition? There's no way to resolve it, because all of the people who would know have passed away.
Sometimes you don't get to answer all of your genealogical questions.
Hmm...My hubby's nickname is Wally ... the only person who ever wrote his nickname as Wallie was his Mom, on early photos. So Wally it is!
ReplyDeleteIt's always a good idea to let the person whose name it is decide how it should be spelled, right?
DeleteIt's a great story to pass down to other family memories, though. And you have proof both ways!
ReplyDeleteI know, so much for resolving conflict, huh?
DeleteIt is good you know both spellings. I have an uncle Junius. Fortunately my father told me Junius was called June. It made him much easier to find.
ReplyDeleteDefinitely good to know the nicknames when you're looking for them!
DeleteWell, if that isn't a puzzlement! We certainly don't find out everything we'd like to know, and sometimes just have to live with dilemmas. Looks like your grandfather and your grandmother couldn't agree on the "proper" spelling of the nickname. Did gender or social norms influence how each of them thought of the nickname, and spelled it?
ReplyDeleteOne of the things I considered was relative education and whether my grandomother could spell. When I thought about it, I know she was educated, so it wasn't that. But my grandmother thought the sun rose and set on my father, so maybe that's where he got the idea he had a "sunny" disposition.
DeleteHaha, you thought you had it! ;) So interesting that his own parents spelled it differently. :)
ReplyDeleteOh, I was so excited when I saw the photo with my grandfather's handwriting. And now I have discovered a second photo with my grandmother's handwriting where she again spelled it as Sunny. So frustrating!!
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