What’s in a Name?

Brenda and I were married i n 1980. Like a lot of young
couples we went to parties and get-togethers with friends
andfamily.

One of my relatives had a high school friend who I saw at
a lot of the parties. He was a nice guy and I enjoyed
talking to himwith one exception: He called his wife his
“Old lady.” At the time, I was 23and he was 21 (not
exactly old).

I don’t know if it was an act , if he was trying to
impress people or if that was the way he thought. I never
liked it and thought it was sort of mean.

One night, we were talking in a group and he called Brenda
my “Old Lady.” I said to him, “Brenda’s not my old lady.
She’s my wife. You can call her my wife, bride or Brenda
but please don’t ever call her my old lady.”

He looked at me like he was a bit shocked and said, “Sure.”

Our words and the meanings we assign to them are very
powerful and I think it’s important that when we speak of
the person we love, we do so with kind words.

By the way, the guy I spoke about was divorced many years
ago. Maybe the negative words added up…