Having one person with an unusual name is one thing. Having three with the same beyond-the-norm name is different.
I prefer to say special. As all three Taffy (Taffies) in my life were and are just that—special.
From grade school and up to and including my retirement years, this name has surfaced and meant something.
First there was the alliterative Taffy, Taffy T, I first met at Corbett Elementary. We sat in classes together all through middle school and into freshman year of high school. It was her given name and she was part of a group of three girls who were close friends and almost always together. While mostly quiet, blonde and thin she was funny and animated. I see flashes of her in others even to this day. Not sure where she is these days, but her memory is a pleasant one.
Then when I became a runner with the local running shoe store program in Dallas in the 2010s, one of my earliest coaches was Taffy H. Her name was actually an amalgam of her birth initials (TAF). Story goes her mom said she wanted her to be Taffy and not Theresa or Terry. And she was a force in my life for a long time. From running to cycling to drinking coffee with the “striders” (who became the “sippers”), Taffy grounded me in many ways. She helped me understand my brother and loved my sister when she met her. She was, and is, the voice of reason and kind. Always kind, considering some of the circumstances she had encountered in her six decades of living.
Along the way, however, we drifted apart because of my breakup with a long-time girlfriend who was a mutual friend. Yet, I’ve always known that that girl needed Taffy more than I needed Taffy.
As with Taffy T, Taffy H was, and is, a critical relationship in my life and someone I miss very much when I’m reminded of her.
Enter the last Taffy. Or Taffie. Taffie Lynn was one of those “cross-over” relationships. I bought her custom-made relishes at the Saturday market, yet I knew her from one of the chambers I worked for. Later, when she survived breast cancer, I found her among other friends who were part of that club. She taught me courage, humility and gratefulness.
Even if they had different names, I would love to roll all three of them up into a single Taffy. Their inspiration, kindness, humility, courage and directness came at points in my life when I needed it all.
They are my sisters, my friends. And, if they read this, they will know I mean it when I say: “Love you, sis.”
Relentless
*featured photo courtesy of UpSplash; other photos by TL Butters and T Harris
