What's In A Name? - Convent Nicknames

"What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would still smell as sweet?"

- Juliet Capulet, Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare

     If you've been following my blog, you know at least one thing about me: I LOVE LITERATURE! And I love applying it to my daily life. So, "What's in a name, that which we call Becca by any other name, she'd still be as sweet?" Yep.

     Last night I was talking to one of my best friends about Shakespeare and Nuns. I completely out-nerded myself with the Shakespeare part.You see, her school is putting on The Tempest and right away I started quoting Shakespeare just to drive her crazy. Sorry, I really can't help myself when it comes to him; he's just so wonderful. Eventually I quoted the above quotation from Romeo and Juliet (one of my absolute FAVORITE lines of literature ever) and realized how applicable it has become in my life recently. Of course, I began to tell her about all the names the sisters have for me and then proclaiming that I hope I'm as cute as they are when I grow up and become a nun. I believe the actual wording was: "I hope I'm as preshfest as they are when I grow up and become a nun."

     So, what are my nicknames you ask? Well, there's quite a few of them. In alphabetical order, they are: AE, Baby G, Becca Boo, Little Sis, Sister, Smiles and Sunflower among many more. AE - Alter Ego. Ironically, I share so many personality traits with one of my closest sisters that we have become interchangeable at times. We tend to be able to finish each other's creative thoughts and most definitely thrive off each other's creativity. When you put us together, it's a true tag team. So, she is my alter ego and thus, I am hers. 

     Baby G, which is kind of one I made up for myself as a joke but has kind of stuck. I have many "mom" figures among the sisters. They are always looking out for me, making sure I'm doing ok, being main means of support, and thus, jokingly they call me the baby, the child or Baby G. It works. 

     Becca Boo, which is a name surfaced from my past, has begun to stick again! And I can't complain! It sort of just rolls off the tongue as a cute little name. Try it: Becca Boo! Sometimes, it's shortened to just boo. Dear God, I actually hope that sister doesn't call me Sister Boo someday...the poor kids might get scared! But anyway, Becca Boo, or just Boo, it's a name only one specific sister calls me and it's pretty precious. She shares her ice cream with me!

     Little Sis and Sister. This is a name that has been adopted by so many sisters. I've discerned for so long that in some convents, it's like I'm more or less already part of the family minus the habit and years of experience. Whenever I'm with these sisters and we are meeting new people or they casually just want to boast about me, they refer to me as their little sister, their sister or their sister to be. Sometimes when we are just hanging around, they'll just call me Sis like this: "Hey Little Sis, want to go for a walk?" I'm definitely part of their family!

      Smiles. This one is a new one, but it makes sense. The other day I was skyping with one of the sisters to make lunch plans. Simply being able to talk with her made me so happy, but her and I share a special bond. Way back when I first started discerning, at my first high school discernment retreat, she and I were paired up to be one on ones for the week meaning that every day, after Mass, we would get to spend an hour together just chatting away. What the sisters who paired us up realized after they did so was that they put the Sisters' best extrovert and the retreat's best extrovert together and there would be no such thing as an hour limitation. She makes me laugh, makes me smile, and almost always knows when I need a lunch date. As we were chatting, I couldn't stop smiling and laughing so she decided she was going to call me Smiles. I kind of like it!

      Finally, Sunflower. Did you know, "Whenever you see a sunflower, you are sure to smile!"? It's true. That's why my dear sister began calling me her sunflower! Because every time she sees me, she is sure to smile. Although we've only known each other a little over a year, she is my sunflower and onion sister! She calls me Sunflower for the self-explanatory reasons: I am the cause of her joy and smiles!

    And so, friends, there you have it: no matter what nickname the sisters call me, each providing a light on my personality, I'm still Becca. Dear, old, same, old Becca!! I'm still me! And I still hope that I'm as precious as they all are when I'm a grow up nun!

They Call Me Becky...

"What's in a name, if by any other name, a rose still smells as sweet." - Shakespeare

      Even though I always introduce myself to new people with my full name, Rebecca, I am always never referred to as a Rebecca. When I was younger the only people who would use my full name were my parents...when I was in trouble. I would hear, "REBECCA LYNN!!!!!!!!!!!!" roar from wherever my parents were. I assume for a little while my grandparents all referred to me as Rebecca, but mostly everyone called me Becca. That was, until, I met the nuns. 

      Growing up, every Christmas Eve we went to Mass at the convent. After Mass was always a treat of cookies and milk or hot cocoa. Aside from my Dad promising the sisters he was going to send me to them when I turned 16 (which he didn't), the only other thing I vividly remember is being called "Becky" by the sisters. No one ever, ever, EVER referred to me as Becky except for them. I guess to others I just didn't appear to be a Becky.

      Fast forward quite a few years to when I was 12 and my littlest sister was born. While our middle sister referred to me as CaCa, short for BecCA, little Lizzie has never called me anything but Becky. We had stopped visiting the convent for Christmas eve Mass by this point and so now, the only person to call me Becky was my little sis. 

      Fast forward once more to my Sophomore year of high school. Since our class was so small (a little less than 125 girls), there were only two Rebeccas. One of us went by Becca, me, and the other, by Becky. One afternoon I emailed my Biology teacher a question about homework and signed it, Rebecca. The next day in class, she addressed the question as being sent in by "Becky". She was searching the room for, "Becky" and even asked where "Becky" was. I looked right at her and said, "She's in the other class." She laughed and said told me I was a good joke-teller. Only then did it occur to me that she was talking about me. Fail. So in my high school years, the sisters and I got extremely close, as you can imagine, and while some who  I told to call me Becca, many of the sisters still always say, "Hi, Becky." 

       Today, once again in Biology class, my teacher called on me and called me, "Becky." While everyone else in the room exchanged questioning looks, I answered her without thinking twice. She's not the only sister here at school who refers to me as Becky. Whether I've had them in class, or have shared a pew or even worked for them as portress, I've been called Becky so many times before. I have finally deducted that it must be a nun thing. 

        I find it interesting how the sisters, without a doubt, have consistently called me Becky, even sisters in various, different communities. Many of my friends, who aren't used to calling me Becky always give me a questioning look that I just shrug off. I kind of really like being called Becky, especially if it's only by the sisters. It's just a cute, little connection, that is unique to only us. No one else can call me Becky and no one else understands how much I love it. Maybe one day, when it comes time to take my religious name, I'll tell them how much I loved it!