Studebaker

Those of you who are old enough to know what a Studebaker is, are thinking, "Why would she name a blog after a car?" And those who are not yet approaching antiquity are thinking "A Studebaker is a car???"

So yes, a Studebaker is (was) a car. And yes, it's a great name for my blog! Why? Because it's funny.

My sister Karen and I could collapse into gales of laughter simply by saying the word. Of course, being quite small at the time, we also thought "toilet paper" and "underwear" were hilarious. And don't even mention "poopy" - oh my gosh! We might start crying and gasping for breath.

I guess my family was probably unusually verbal, right from the start. When I was almost ready to be born, Mom and Dad asked Karen what they thought my name should be. Thank God they didn't take her advice. Our last name was Dale, and she thought a perfect first name would be "Diarrhea."

Kind of a lyrical choice for a 2 year old. But disturbing, nonetheless.

Karen and I were joined by Monica and Melissa within the span of a few years. We all thought Mad Libs was the funnest game ever. We all talked a mile a minute during dinner, which helped forge our sisterly bonds and filled in a lot of silence from the parental sides of the table. And we all have experienced success in the grown-up writing world. Three of us are published authors, and the 4th (me) makes a living writing cheesy hype. Er, no, I mean, writing marketing projects for a variety of commercial clients. Ahem.

Words are important to all of us - not just me and my sisters, but all of us. A word can encourage. A word can injure. A word can change a relationship. A word can change the world. Just take out your Bible, and read the first few verses of John. You'll see what I mean.

Most of all, for me, a word can bring a smile. It can remind us that life is not so serious, really. It'll be over before you know it, so you might as well enjoy it while you can.

As Dave Barry says, "Never under any circumstances take a sleeping pill and a laxative on the same night." (I realize that is totally irrelevant, but I wanted to make sure my first post included at least one genuinely funny sentence.)

So there you have it. Studebaker. A word to make you smile. A word to make you wonder. And a word to remind me of my unusual-but-wonderful childhood with my unusual-but-wonderful sisters.

Studebaker. Think of it the next time you need a reason to smile. But don't say it out loud. It takes a lot of explaining.