When I launched this little baby a year and a half ago, I wondered if I had anything to say. Clearly that hasn't been an issue. Maybe the opposite's been the case on a few occasions. Maybe I've had a bit too much to say.
(My niece Amelia and me...this has definitely been one of the highlights of my tea journey)
A few of you have commented on the fact that I write about everything and nothing. That the connection to tea is sometimes tenuous at best. That's been much more intentional than you might think. I love tea. I love drinking it. I love writing about it. I love having people over and serving it.
I love luring non-teadrinkers over to the leaf side. But you know that.
The thing is that as much as I love all those things, they're somehow not enough. I have to write about other things, and I love to find that link to tea. It's often a kind of a puzzle to find the connection. I like to think I find it more often than I don't.
So, I'd like to use this occasion to explain the origin of the name lahikmajoe. It's a convoluted story, but I'll try to be concise.
My grandmother was a Comanche Indian. Because she saw plenty of discrimination in her surroundings, she wanted her children to have better opportunities. She gave each of her seven sons very anglo sounding names.
The way the two names she thought sounded quite classy went together were borderline comical, and the one she paired with Kenneth was downright embarrassing. It won't even be repeated here. I was given my father's name, and not only Kenneth but the other one, as well. It began with the letter 'L', and I loathed it from as far back as I can remember.
So when I was a bit older, I started to imagine what my grandmother might have named me had she gone with an Indian name. The one I came up with was lahikma. The 'joe' part came later.
I'm sure I could have an easier to explain web identity, but this one's very personal and a bit quirky and actually fits me perfectly. If you met me in person, I can say with certainty that you'd chuckle to yourself, 'My goodness, he really is a lahikmajoe'.
What a jolly story, Leslie. Or should I say Luther? Those are my two guesses for the mystery name.
ReplyDeleteOr perhaps I'll stick with Lahikma.
That's a great story that strikes a strong chord with me. My family had a traditional middle name for boys of "Lorraine". It was meant as a tribute to the Alsace / Lorraine region where my great grandfather presumably served in WW1. That tradition was ended in my generation. The last living bearer of that name denies having a middle name at all. How does that stack up? And why do both these embarrassing names start with "L"?
ReplyDeleteI think I might have guessed the Indian bit but associate joe with coffee but that's a bit blasphemous!
ReplyDeleteMy husbands middle inital is V as was his father, his fathers father and all the male children. When we asked his father what the V stood for he would not tell. It was only after his Dad passed we found out the middle name was Vivian. Lahikmajoe I so enjoy your musings.
ReplyDeleteThank you everyone for the kind words here and on twitter.
ReplyDeleteWriting about tea, as well as writing this blog in general, has been such a pleasure.
Am very grateful for the support and lively discussions among teafolk and not-yet-tea-folk.
Here's to at least 300 more.
FINALLY! Answers! Sweet, delicious ANSWERS!
ReplyDelete