Dixie Lee Wheeler -- a family name
In my family there is a name with a lot of history and no small bit of confusion: Dixie Lee Wheeler. Note that it is a male name. Well, mostly.
My grandmother had four Wheeler boys back in the early 1900s: Marion, Mervin (my daddy) and Murrell V. When she had her 4th baby boy, she was teased. "What you gonna call this one? Mary? Maybelle?" My grandmother being a sparky little woman with a temper, swore she'd name the baby whatever was chosen by the first two people to come through the door.
So the first person in was asked "What's your favorite name?" "Uh, Lee," he answered. Sigh of relief, that's not too bad. Then the next person came in and was asked the same question. "What do you want to know for?" she asked. Nevermind that, just tell us, she was pressed. "Well, okay, I guess, Dixie."
"Lee Dixie Wheeler" just didn't work. So the 4th boy became Dixie Lee Wheeler, or Dick to his friends and family. And it worked fine for a long time. In fact, when his brother Murrell had one son, he named him after the brother he loved so well. That meant I had an Uncle Dixie Lee Wheeler and a cousin Dixie Lee Wheeler. Within the family to distinguish them, one was called Big Dick and the other Little Dick. Yes. (And as I child I had no idea of the humor.) The humor got even more accute when my cousin Dick grew into a huge football linebacker, while my Uncle Dick remained a 5'7" wiry man, and we would still call out to my cousin: "Little Dick! Little Dick!"
Then cousin Dick married and had one child, a girl. After all those years of battling society to prove that Dixie Lee Wheeler was a male name, he named his one daughter Dixie Lee Wheeler!! I remember in my youth filing that under "unclear on the concept." We didn't see much of the young girl, but when she was about 6, she was at a family reunion. My Uncle Dick (her great-uncle Dick) called her over to sit on his lap. It was obvious she didn't remember him. The conversation went like this:
Him: What's your name, little girl?
Her: Dixie Lee Wheeler!
Him: What's your daddy's name?
Her: Dixie Lee Wheeler!
Him: You know what my name is?
Her: No sir.
Him: It's Dixie Lee Wheeler!
Her (looking around): Why, there's Dixie Lee Wheelers everywhere!
Last week, my oldest cousin, Little Dick, Dick Wheeler, Dixie Lee Wheeler, passed away after a long battle with cancer. Today I'm sending out condolences to the family and honoring the name he carried for 65 years.
My grandmother had four Wheeler boys back in the early 1900s: Marion, Mervin (my daddy) and Murrell V. When she had her 4th baby boy, she was teased. "What you gonna call this one? Mary? Maybelle?" My grandmother being a sparky little woman with a temper, swore she'd name the baby whatever was chosen by the first two people to come through the door.
So the first person in was asked "What's your favorite name?" "Uh, Lee," he answered. Sigh of relief, that's not too bad. Then the next person came in and was asked the same question. "What do you want to know for?" she asked. Nevermind that, just tell us, she was pressed. "Well, okay, I guess, Dixie."
"Lee Dixie Wheeler" just didn't work. So the 4th boy became Dixie Lee Wheeler, or Dick to his friends and family. And it worked fine for a long time. In fact, when his brother Murrell had one son, he named him after the brother he loved so well. That meant I had an Uncle Dixie Lee Wheeler and a cousin Dixie Lee Wheeler. Within the family to distinguish them, one was called Big Dick and the other Little Dick. Yes. (And as I child I had no idea of the humor.) The humor got even more accute when my cousin Dick grew into a huge football linebacker, while my Uncle Dick remained a 5'7" wiry man, and we would still call out to my cousin: "Little Dick! Little Dick!"
Then cousin Dick married and had one child, a girl. After all those years of battling society to prove that Dixie Lee Wheeler was a male name, he named his one daughter Dixie Lee Wheeler!! I remember in my youth filing that under "unclear on the concept." We didn't see much of the young girl, but when she was about 6, she was at a family reunion. My Uncle Dick (her great-uncle Dick) called her over to sit on his lap. It was obvious she didn't remember him. The conversation went like this:
Him: What's your name, little girl?
Her: Dixie Lee Wheeler!
Him: What's your daddy's name?
Her: Dixie Lee Wheeler!
Him: You know what my name is?
Her: No sir.
Him: It's Dixie Lee Wheeler!
Her (looking around): Why, there's Dixie Lee Wheelers everywhere!
Last week, my oldest cousin, Little Dick, Dick Wheeler, Dixie Lee Wheeler, passed away after a long battle with cancer. Today I'm sending out condolences to the family and honoring the name he carried for 65 years.