Such Sweet Names

I just learned that the word “pedo” is a Spanish slang which means “fart”. Ooopps! That’s not a nice name! But “Pedo” is my nickname in high school, given by my barkadas then. I like the sound of it. Pinoy na pinoy.

But I have other names. At home, my family and some close relatives call me “Toto”, a visayan nickname for little boys. Pero pag galit na ang Nanay ko, she calls me “Junior!”.

When I was young, my playmates call me “Unyo” (started by my cousin Belen), “Unyot” (coined by my friend, Regen) and “Hunio” (invented by Aling Lily, one of our neighbors then. Saan na kaya sila ngayon?). These are all variations of “Junior”.

When I became a teenager, I was known as “Jun” in our neighborhood. When I entered college, I started introducing myself as “Willie”, kasi binata na nga ako. Hanggang ngayon, iyon na ang tawag sa akin.

Even now that I am working, that’s how they call me. “Willie” became “Kuya Willie” nung tumagal kasi mas matanda na ako sa mga katrabaho ko. Now, they call me “Sir Willie” since I got promoted. Naks! (But it was Lord’s hand who made it possible. I’ll share it in my future posts.)

When I leave for work in the morning, and when I go home from work in the afternoon, I hear lots of kids call me “Kuya Willie! Kuya Willie!”. Kids playing on the streets would greet me, “Hi, Kuya Willie” or “Bye, Kuya Willie”. Madalas din, the kids would shout my name from their houses - from their living room or from their windows. I can’t see them at times, basta I hear them call my name. Dyahi tuloy kasi naririnig ng iba. (But I love these kids. They are my “little friends”, who eventually became friends of my kids.)

The name I love most is how my three kids call me - “Tatay”. My wife and I agreed that we shall ask our kids to address us as “Nanay” and “Tatay”. It sounds so endearing. Malambing siya pakinggan. Our friends can’t help but smile when they learn that that is how our children call us.

One time, my second child was asked by her teacher how she calls her mother. Ruth answered, “Nanay”. During one of the programs in their school, I was approached by one of Ruth’s classmates and she asked, “Ano po ang tawag sa inyo ni Eunice (that’s how she is called in school)?” I said, “Tatay”. Her eyes widened and said “Ah… ok… ”. She just needed to confirm it. Natawa kami ng asawa ko.

But nothing is sweeter than how my Father in Heaven calls me – “Son”.

"You are my Son ; today I have become your Father." - Psalm 2:7

And nothing and no one can change that.

“For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 8:38,39

Amen.