"Pooh Bear"

My grandmother and I had several funny stories between the two of us – most of them involving pet names for each other.

Since birth my grandmother has always called me “Pooh” or “Pooh Bear.” I never understood, and it never mattered. Every Birthday card was addressed to “Pooh” and every Christmas gift tag said the same. About two years back, I was visiting with her and she decided that my late 20’s would be a good time to share with me where she got the name “Pooh.”

I was born in 1982. Besides big hair and bold colors, the most popular thing was the name “Jennifer” for new baby girls. My parents obviously went along with the mainstream and decided to name me as such. (Mom says it was going to be “Erica” and then my dad was home sick one day from work and caught an episode of “All My Children” and discovered the ever nasty “Erica Kane” character. Dad refused to name me that based on this infamous character. However, in the same episode was a beautiful, sweet “Jennifer,” and so they agreed that would be a good compromise.)

Mom and Dad made it very clear that I was to go by “Jennifer! NOT Jenny!” My Grandmother really wanted to call me Jenny, but my dad put his foot down. So she decided to go with a pet name of “Pooh.” She revealed to me, years later, where she derived “Pooh” from.

Ever heard of “Winnie the Pooh?” Well, Winnie rhymed with Jenny. And even though she couldn’t call me Jenny, she went with “Pooh Bear,” which was just a shortened version of “JENNY the Pooh.”

So the joke was on my parents this whole time.

Man I love that woman.