Nicknames and No Names

Growing up with nine brothers and sisters, it was not uncommon for our parents to confuse our names every once in awhile.  When they would load us in the station wagon for a road trip, it was an amusing custom for my dad to call roll just to be sure everyone was actually in the car.  I remember quite well the time my brother Greg didn't answer and we had to turn around and go find him.  Was that how it was for Joseph and Mary when they lost track of 12-year-old Jesus?  We found Greg on the beach, playing quite contentedly in the sand - not at all aware that we had been miles down the road without him.

One of my five brothers had a new nickname pretty frequently.  They're still funny to us:  Spud, Riggs, Punky, DeBoy, Punky Riggs, and so on.  They had nothing at all to do with his real name and I still don't know why he was the only one who we subjected to this.  We don't call him by any of those names anymore, of course, except when telling old family stories. 

Pier Giorgio Frassati was not a stranger to nicknames.  In fact, he liked to give them to himself and his friends.  As a boy, he called himself "Dodo."  And then, in later years, he and his best friend Marco became "Robespierre" and "Perrault" -  jokingly comprising the "Terror subsection" of the Tipi Loschi.  His friend Franz he called "Petronius" because of his stylish dress, Ernestina was changed to "Englesina" after a trip to London.  With his creative sense of humor, no wonder his friends loved being in his presence!

One name never used for Pier Giorgio was "Pier."  Whenever his name was shortened by his friends or family or himself, it would be simply "Giorgio."  So when I see him referred to as "Pier" in articles, social media posts, videos, etc., I just cringe.  It's actually my personal litmus test for determining who really has a devotion to him.

I suppose this happens so much quite innocently - because we forget that his middle name was not Giorgio but Michelangelo.  And anyone who sees the name "Pier Giorgio Frassati" might think that is his full name.  But it isn't.

Nearly 30 years have passed since his beatification.  That seems enough time to start to get his name right.  So, it's "Pier Giorgio Frassati," "Giorgio Frassati," "Blessed Frassati," "Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati," "Blessed Giorgio Frassati," "Pier Giorgio Michelangelo Frassati," (you get the idea...)

Just never, never, never "Pier."

Verso l'alto!  ///cmw