'Nita and Names. I picked up my mother from the hospital this morning and brought her home to Epworth. She was in great spirits and in good shape. (On the way down in the hospital elevator, she "hit" on a young intern who had been in to see her the day before. He said "I'm married".) Whatever her affliction on Wednesday, it passed on by fairly quickly. (I think it was gone by the time I reached the ER.) I spoke to Steve Fields this morning, and he said that nothing showed up on the tests and he has perscribed no medication. (Thank you, Steve.) She definitely has these "spells" and, maybe, one day one of those spells will send her on to Glory. But for now, she's back. I'm glad.

Which is the occasion for reflecting on how she talks, especially names, since we had some (mostly negative) interest in the first name of my children's great-great-grandfather's Malmouth Lanford. The following is a table showing how a given name in our family is spelled and how it is pronounced if you are from deep, deep East Point, Georgia.

Malmouth is "Mammoth"

Paul is "Paw-uhl"

Walter is "Wuh-all-tuh"

Carlos is "Call-us"

Juanita is "Wuh-oo-nee-tuh". That "Wuh-oo" part takes so long in rolling off the tongue that the name is usually shortened to "'Nita".

Ken is "Kee-un"

Tim is "Tee-um"

Francis is "Fray-in-sus"

Hemperley (my mother's maiden name) is "Hemp-lee"

There are more, but they don't come to mind right now. Maybe you have some to add.