A Rose by any other Name . . .

My youngest sisters name at birth was Jennie Eva Estrada.

I remember my mother saying once that it was suppose to be plain Jenny; but mom didn't know how to spell and it ended up Jennie. (Guess that's a hereditary thing after all.) The name Eva was for her paternal grandmother.

The odd thing is that half the time when I am talking about her, or even to her, I'm not sure what to call her.

When she was very young, everyone called her what mom did; Eva. When she turned about 12 or so, she let us all know that she would prefer to be called Jennie, rather than Eva. While trying to change what you call a sibling is hard anyway, it was really hard for me as I seldom called her Eve to start out with.

My step-father attempted to teach all his children some Spanish when they were little. We all knew what most animals, body parts, and food was called. When Jennie Eva was around 2, he was trying to teach her to say horse.

Horse in Spanish is caballo (pronounced: Ka bye yo). Jeannie Eve had trouble getting her mouth around the word so Ernest would pronounce it really slowly for her, Ka Bye Yo. Being the I'll-do-this-my-way type of person she is, she selected to only use the last 2 syllables and a horse became a Bye Yo. Or, really more of a Byjo with her baby accent. Soon, every living animal was a Bjyo.

It didn't matter how much time Ernest spent trying to correct her, an animal was a Byjo and a Byjo they would remain. (Those of you who know her, shouldn't really be surprised by this.)

Some how, whether from our attempt to pick on Ernest or from her repeated use of the phrase, by the time she was 3, Jennie Eve had officially become Byjo to her immediate family. And as far as I am concerned, she still is.

So . . .

Byjo is in her 30s now and I am still trying to decide what to call her. When I'm talking to family members she is my Byjo. They know who I'm talking about and no one blinks; but they don't always call her by that name.

When I talk to friends of mine about her, I try not to use Byjo because if they ever meet her she will introduce herself by another name.

When I am talking to her I usually call her Byjo. But if I'm at her house surrounded by her friends or in laws I freeze every time I go to address her. I know they do not call her Byjo. But for a moment, I can't remember if she's Eva or Jennie. So I stumble.

I've been doing this most of our adult lives; stumbling over her name.

This weekend we drove to see Byjo and her family and even when trying to tell Will (my son) what to call her, I stumbled. "This is your Aunt . . ."

Now, I have a notoriously bad memory. Next to my notorious bad spelling. But I hope she never things I truly FORGET her name.

For my baby sister is special. She has overcome a lot in her life and has made for herself a life and family worth being proud of. She's smart, beautiful, and fun to be around. She's always ready to help any one that needs it. And there is no end to the limits she will go to for her family. No, she's not perfect . . . she is related to me after all.

And regardless of whether I stumble over her name in an fool-hearted attempt to make her more comfortable in different situations; whether I call her Eva, Jennie, or Byjo; I always call her sister. And I always love her.