Funny thing, inside joke, maybe only for me now.

When I was growing up my dad seemed to have a thing with nicknames. For example, my brother was “bud”, while I was called “bomber”; these were just names my dad sometimes used.

He had different nicknames for some of his friends and colleagues as well. One name in particular stands out; one of the earliest nicknames I recall.

There were these family friends — their two daughters took turns babysitting for my brother and me when we were little — Mr. & Mrs. Carmichael. My dad called Mr. Carmichael “Hoagy”; but his real name was Earl.; more on Earl in a latter post maybe; suffice to say he was a good guy to me and my family.

But back to Hoagy.

I gotta think that at some point, my dad explained where he got the name Hoagy, but that admission escapes me. I don’t recall it. I was pretty young too, so that might be part of the reason for my poor memory.

In any of it, decades later, as I expanded my musical taste and genres, and in particular listening to older genres like jazz, and part as a way to stay connected to my dad, who passed away several years ago, I heard the name on the radio station, Hoagy Carmichael…

Apparently, one of the most successful songwriters of the Tin Pan Alley era of American music in the 1930’s & 1940’s … [Which I now need to read more about],

And funny thing I just realized as I researched this piece, the musical Carmichael, his middle name was Howard; just like my dad, just like me, just like my son.

Ha. That’s a bonus!

These threads of names and thoughts and connections, just the deeper something I can particularly appreciate on a cloudy & cool morning walk on a recent holiday Monday.

Thanks Hoagy, thanks Howie, thank you Lord for nicknames and family and friends and music!