This may be my strangest post to date, but at the end of the day has everything to do with the relationships you build with people. I was feeling a certain way about it, and I figured since I have no big news to report, I would share.

CJ asked me today why I rarely (yes, his word) call anyone by their birth name? I never really thought about it but, he’s absolutely right. Most of the time, in daily conversation/texting, I don’t. I don’t even have people in my phone by their birth names. For me, each nickname carries a memory.

We call CJ CJ, instead of Christopher, because we decided before he was even born that was the way it was going to be. I usually call him Boopie when it’s just us though. Of all three of the kiddos, I refer to Ella by her first name the most. When I am not calling her that, she’s Boo or El. My grandmother used to be called El, so that carries a very special meaning. As for Jack, my goodness, that poor child has so many different nicknames. The one we use most behind closed doors is Beanyour Seenyour. CJ came up with that one, after hearing me call him Bean all the time.

Steve is Babe, Hun, Sweetness, or any colorful word I come up with when I get super frustrated with him. He’s in my phone as Stevie Wonder (cute story behind that). My parents are now Grandma and Grandpa, and my sister and her husband are Auntie and Uncie. My college roommates are listed in my phone as Little D., Sta-C, Tra, Roomie, and My Shrink. Some of my other contacts are Jen Corona, Jen 2.0, Bestie, David Rose, Lenabutt, Lynnie, Biatch, AB Reiber, EB, Coll Coll, Megster, Gorgs, Nicki P., Miss Jodikins, Sunshine, and Nell Nell.

All of these people are people I have history with, and each and every one of these nicknames are names that have a story behind them. When you have relationships with people, you naturally have memories you share. These nicknames are a direct result of one, or more, of those amazing memories.

For my entire childhood, and the beginning of my adult life, most people called me Courtney. It makes perfect sense because it’s my birth name. It’s a pretty birth name too. A big shout out to my parents for picking such a great name.

As life went on, I became Miss Lepore. From there, I became Mrs. Zurlnick or Mrs Z. People call me all different names now. At any given moment I could be Babe, Court, Cour, Pain In The Ass, Mom, Sissy, or Courtster. I kid you not, when people call me Courtney it sounds so incredibly strange.

Today I put a lot of thought into the relationships I have built over the years. How each of these people I mentioned (and many I did not) have continued to show up when I needed them the most, whether they knew it or not. If we have parted, we were able to pick right back up where we left off, when we found our way back.

Relationships can be complicated and take time to build. I am so grateful for all of mine. Without support, life can get pretty lonely. From the bottom of my heart, I thank you all!

There are some cute stories on IG to check out from today.

https://www.instagram.com/zurlnick_five