“Arge”
A dear friend of mine asked me if I had a nickname growing up. I vividly hear my mom and dad say it best, “Hey, Arge.”
As the fourth Robert and fifth James in my family, my folks agreed there were waaay too many Robs, Bobs, James, Jims in the family. So they kept it simple and named me R. J.
My grandmother at my birth wasn’t exactly sure how to spell it. As we are all taught in school, sound it out. “AreJay,” she wrote. “BobRobRobert” became my couisin Robert’s nickname, she figured if she said all three she’d nail it the first time, every time.
People often ask me what “R. J.” stands for. “Robert James” truth be told, but in certain situations I might lead with a suave “Rupert Johann” or “I’m Rick James, b***h” (Burning Man reference).
Babies tend to resemble paternal traits for the first few years. There an evolutionary reason: paternal similarly tends to keep the father around longer.
I was my Father’s clone for many years, much to the chagrin of my Mom.
So here’s to all the new mom’s in the world… the kiddo will eventually look like you!
Pictured Top Left: My Mom’s senior portrait, Grandmother holding me, Me two weeks overdue at 9lbs 8oz / 21.5”, and my sailor suit. I found this picture frame in an antic years ago and only recently did I discover that the frame was the very frame on the wall displaying my Mom’s college diploma (Top Right).
Tags: b, b***h, babies look like father, denver birth photographer, I’m Rick James, infant photographer, kern-photo, R. J. Kern, Rick James, RJ Kern, why babies look like father
6 Responses to ““Arge””