One, Two, Three

Three guys with one name. Once upon a time in a far away land, we had a baby. We named him James, like his father, and his grandfather. There was not too much name confusion as we called the little guy Jimmy, the middle sized guy James, and the grandfather, who lived far away, Grandpa Jim.

Late one night when Jimmy was very small the telephone rang. I woke from sleep, jumped out of bed, and ran downstairs to answer the call. "Hello, is Jim Teal there?" said the voice on the other end. "Can I ask who's calling?" I inquired. "Jim Teal" said the unfamiliar voice. My mind was sleepy. "Who is this?" I asked again. "Jim Teal," he replied. I was confused. "Who is this?" I repeated. "Jim Teal." I gave up and decided whoever it was wasn't going to tell me who he was. As I called up the stairs to my husband it suddenly dawned on me that the man on the other end of the phone had told me precisely who he wanted and who he was. I was just a little slow in having it sink in. I suppose my father in law got a good laugh out of it, but he never fooled me twice.