[hahy-pok–uh-riz-uh
m, hi-]–noun
m, hi-]–noun2. the practice of using a pet name.
3. the use of forms of speech imitative of baby talk, esp. by an adult.
I had a very appropriate pet name my freshman year of high school. Simply “my pet.” Though there was nothing ‘simple’ about the name giver. I often heard his name mentioned in the halls between class. Tom Porter this, Tom Porter that. Curly dark hair and eyes as blue as my favorite colored pencil. Brightly hip Hawaiian shirts everyday. A senior on the baseball team. I was Tom Porter’s pet.
Did he mean anything by it? Neh. Did I still daydream that he might secretly love me? Highly possible. For one short year, with my orange and blue braces and my jammin adidas slides, I reached greatness because of a simple, short, perfect hypocorism.
Orange and blue braces and adidas slides. This description makes me so grateful for the fingerprints of God. The ones i saw all over the way He made you and the ones He left all over my life with the way he used you to craft me into more of the person He wanted me to be. Tom Porter was a lucky guy.