My alter ego, my real life, my nomenclature is Gigi (pronounced geegee).  It all began with Little Jack, my greatnephew, one of the great loves of my life.  He was born on the first anniversary of my husband’s death; thus creating wonderfully exciting chaos in my life…  causing me to forget for a time my loss, bringing sweet relief  to my sadness.  But it wasn’t just that his birth was around that time.  Although the date was one day early, it was on the very day (a Monday) at the exact time my husband died that little Jack was born.

And that child loved me.  I mean loved me to the exclusion of even his Momma and his Mawmaw.  If I was around, he only wanted me.  Even on his first birthday, a grand day, he wanted Gigi.  Oh, I wasn’t Gigi then; I was Aunt Granny, a name picked out for myself after a visit to Dolly Parton’s Dollywood and a restaurant called Aunt Granny’s.  (Thank you, Ms. Parton, for your inspiration.)  It was only after Little Jack began to work on pronouncing words that it morphed into Gigi.

So now I am the proud Gigi of six little great-darlings and two precious granddaughters.  And for Christmas I got a red Gigi apron!!!  One of those delightfully gaudy grandma things:  a picture on the front of me and the grandgirls, bling that would blind a person if the sun caught it just right…  and my name:  Gigi.