Episode #917
August 29, 2026
My 10-year-old father came in the living room
and said to his parents. “I’m Bobby!”
In spite of his given name of Carol Jewett, his parents said, “Hello Bobby,” and the name stuck. Later in his life, Bobby’s mother remarried Hans Thues. My father’s name was now Robert (for Bobby) Thues. A great fan of James Dean, Bob Thues took Dean as a middle name and was now Robert Dean Thues. He never officially changed it, but this is the name he used for his driver’s license, when he entered the Marine Corps, when he married my mother, and the name he put on my birth certificate.
Even though I have no blood in my name, Thues, my birth certificate reads Ricki Thomas Thues. Apparently, my parents were fans of Ricky Ricardo and “Little” Ricky Ricardo, who was born on TV 5 months before I was. Maybe it was Ricky Nelson who played himself, another Little Ricky, on the Ozzie and Harriet show.
Parents in 1953 sought modern visual symmetry for their children’s names, choosing the sleek “-i” ending to give pop-culture-inspired names a unique, coordinated, and forward-thinking identity. Thus, I was named Ricki and my sister Debbi.
In the fifth grade, my sister began going to 2nd grad Catholic Catechism school. I went along, with my parents’ encouragement, to find a religion. When it came time to be baptised, I chose my middle name, Thomas, as a baptismal name to honor Doubting Thomas from the bible. Since Thomas means “twin,” it is also a fitting name for a Gemini like myself.
Since I was a fifth grader in first communion class, after baptism and first communion, I was quickly bumped up to fifth grade Confirmation class, where I chose the name Peter. The name, meaning “Rock”, is a promise to become stable and reliable from a foundation of impulsive emotional volatility. I am not certain that prediction ever came true, but my full name was now Ricki Thomas Peter Thues.
Fifth graders are cruel. They saw Ricki instead of Ricky as a girl spelling and teased me about it. I dropped the “i” and immediately became “He’s alright, his name is Rick.”
Years later, as a freshman in high school, I was registered as Ricki T. Thues. When my name appeared on an achievement plaque, my good friend read the name: “Ricki T, your Rickity!” And so I partly reclaimed my name among my closest friends as the nickname Rickity.
In my retirement, I have become a writer. When it came time to pick my nom de plume, I chose Ricki T Thues. I have always liked the name Ricki and feel very comfortable with the way it fits my writer’s persona.
IF YOU LIKE THIS BLOG YOU’LL LOVE MY BOOKS:
“Skydivers Know Why Birds Sing” by Ricki T Thues is now available on Amazon.
It is a Love story of Rick and Paula Thues and their 35 years of Skydiving.
Click HERE to buy the paperback or Kindle ebook at Amazon.
Follow Ricki T Thues on Amazon HERE.
ALSO AVAILABLE:
“Technically Human” by Ricki T Thues, the iMentor, is available on Amazon.
It is a compilation of selected episodes from this bLog which tell the story of Humanity through the eyes of the iMentor.
Click HERE to buy the paperback or Kindle ebook at Amazon.
The ebook version of “Technically Human” is also available on Kobo. Click HERE.
For you Barnes and Noble Nook readers it is available for Nook. Click HERE.
The “Technically Human” ebook is also available on Apple Books . Click HERE.
Ricki is also a contributor to the Writers Anonymous short stories anthology, “Matters of Life and Death, Stories on the Brink.” CLICK HERE.
The newest Writers Anonymous short stories anthology, “Stories Well-Traveled,” is now available on Amazon.
It is a collection about the different paths Writers Anonymous has traveled, both real and imagined, and how, through these stories, we have stayed connected.
CLICK HERE.
