Slice of Life: March 16 -- Beezer Weezer

I mentioned in an earlier post that I might at some point enlighten you about my nickname. Well, lucky you, today is the day.

Growing up, my family had what my parents referred to as their "adopted son."  No, he wasn't really adopted and he wasn't their son. Instead, he was a very close friend of our family who spent a great deal of time at our house. He was like a second big brother to me. He was in high school when my brother and I were only 4 and 7 years old. He often served as out babysitter and he frequently accompanied my family on trips to the lake. My parents took him under their wing and he truly became like a member of our family. His name was Tommy, and I vividly remember the Christmas when he bought my brother and I sweatshirts that said "Tommy's Boy" and "Tommy's Girl."  In his eyes, we were part of his family, too.

It was at some point during this time that Tommy nicknamed me Beezer Weezer. I have no idea where he came up with that nickname, nor do I have any idea why it "stuck." Either way, almost thirty years later, my family still calls me Beezer, Beeze, or Beezie.

Tommy went to college, got married (my brother and I were in his wedding), and moved to Texas. During this time, our family lost touch with Tommy. Ironically, four years ago I traveled to St. Louis for an orientation meeting for my doctorate degree program. It was during this meeting that I first met several members of our doctoral group. Surprisingly, there was Tommy. Even more surprising was the fact that we were in the same group, completed all our classes together, and were on the same project team who together wrote and defended our dissertation.

In May 2013, Tommy and I stood together in line and walked one behind the other as we received our doctorate degrees. Tommy now goes by Tom and like me, he has the title of "Dr." in front of his name. It's hard to believe that he's the same teenage kid who used to babysit me and gave me my nickname. I'm sure it's equally hard for him to believe that I'm the little blond headed girl he used to call "Tommy's Girl."

You never know who will enter your life, how long they will stay, and when your paths might cross again. Tommy was an important part of our family growing up and Tom was an important part of me earning my doctorate. I'm glad our paths crossed the first time, and I'm equally glad they crossed a second time, too.