Classmates.com is a great tool for locating old classmates. And, I do mean O-L-D!! The other day, I received a message through Classmates from an ex-Mundayite who was looking to connect to past acquaintances. My Goodness!! what a story he has! I received permission from him to use his 'name change' story in my journal. All of you who are Munday people will remember him, or at least his family. It is such a fun story and one of human interest.
"Name Change"Once upon a time there was a woman who lived in a
house with a bunch of kids. And more kids. I can
imagine what the neighbors said that cold morning of
December 31, 1940.
"Dora had the baby! It's another boy. Eight pounds 14
ounces, 21 inches long."
"He's a big one! What did they name this one?"
"Uhhhh. They're both okay."
"Glad to hear that. But what is his name?"
"Bunny Vance."
"Slow down, you said it too fast. I thought I heard
you say funny pants."
"That's close."
"Well, what is it?
"It's B-u-n-n-y. Bunny Vance."
"What in blazes did they name him that for?"
I was number 11. The last one of the litter. So why
not call me a bunny. It's better than Piglet or
Bowzer.
And so I grew up with the name Bunny. People who knew
me didn't tease me about it, at least not to my
knowledge anyway. Rivals on the football field didn't
do it but once either. To my good fortune there was a
guy on the U. of Texas football team who made
All-American named Bunny Andrews, about the time I was
playing in high school. So that sort of leveled the
playing field for me. Name didn't stop me from being
popular in high school, or a good player on the field
or court.
After high school I enrolled at Hardin-Simmons
University at Abilene, Texas. Seventy-five miles from
home. When I got my enrollment papers I noticed I was
placed in Behren's Hall. I didn't think any more about
it. But when I got to school and went to Behren's Hall
I noticed rather quickly that it was the girl’s dorm.
Things were looking up. They noticed the discrepancy
pretty soon, however. I didn't even get to move in
before I was assigned to the boys dorm.
When the girls heard what almost happened they had to
see this Bunny fellow. So, I became popular right
away. In fact I was chosen the Behren's Hall Beau that
first year. I didn't make the team at HSU, but I had a
good year in intramurals and at Behren's Hall.
When I was 20 I heard through the grapevine that I was
to be drafted into the Army after my 21st birthday.
Draftees went directely to Viet Nam. I didn't want to
die before I had lived, so I joined the Air Force.
Don't leave me, this is where the story gets good.
The recruiter asked me for a birth certificate. I
didn't have one. My parents didn't have one. I don't
think they had ever had one. Evidently we didn't need
them to go to school in Munday, Texas. What for?
Everyone knew everyone. In fact I was kin to most of
the towns people. So the sergeant sent off to Austin
to get one before he could finish my enlistment
process. He called and told me to come back in as soon
as I could.
So when I got there he told me there was no such
person on file in the state of Texas being born on
that date. "But it was odd," he said, "because there
was a Buddy Vance Norville born the same day, same
time, to the same parents. Did you have a twin
brother?"
"Say what! Does this mean Bunny doesn't have to go, or
get drafted?"
"No, it means Buddy has just enlisted in the Air
Force. Evidently whoever filled in the birth
certificate didn't hear right and wrote in what they
thought they heard."
So when I left home to go to boot camp, it was like I
was a totally different person. Buddy! I would have to
get used to a new name along with all the other stuff.
When everyone in my flight was assembled, the Training
Instructor asked if anyone had taken ROTC in college.
Like the dumb country kid I was I said, "Yes, Sir!"
"Then I hereby name you dorm chief," he said.
Buddy, now I had another new name, Dorm Chief. Man
what a beginning.
After a while I sort of got used to both names. One
day I was talking to one of the guys who had become
friends with me and I told him about the name change,
etc.
"You ought to be glad," he said. "Can't you just
imagine all the teasing you would have gotten if your
name had been Bunny?"
That was actually a pretty sobering thought.
Well, it's been awhile now since my name change. I
tried once after getting out of the service to get
folks to call me Vance. But it didn't stick for some
reason. I was a "Buddy," not a "Vance." Except when I
go back to Munday where I become Bunny again.
So I have tried to be a Buddy to everyone I've met
since becoming Dorm Chief.
I wonder if Bunny Andrews got drafted? And what was
his middle name?
Oh, but I did get called Funny Pants. But not in the
Air Force.
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