Miss Becky's Blog

SMILEY -- KEN'S NICKNAME

A nickname is a name given you or a name people call you by that is different than your given name.

Here is the story of how Ken, whose given name is Kenneth Mitchell, got the nickname "Smiley".

Ken was born in a rural area of western Kentucky, a southern state in America. His mother died when he was three years old. Ken and his older sister lived with different relatives while their father worked in another state to earn enough money to purchase a farm in Kentucky. Ken, his sister and father moved to the farm when he was about 10 years old. There was no running water or electricity. They worked hard for about five years but were not able to make the farm productive.

When Ken was 15 years-old, a sophomore in high school, his father moved the family across the country to the state of California, at the invitation of his sister. They lived with her until his Dad got a job and place of their own. After attending a one-room school, Ken lacked self-confidence in the new high school of about 2,000 students. He had an accent when he spoke that made it difficult for others to understand him. His self-esteem was low.

One Saturday, early in that first school year, Ken was at the play ground watching some boys from the high school play basketball. The ball got away from them and rolled toward where Ken was standing. He picked up the ball and threw it toward the hoop from the half-court line. The ball went through the hoop!! Ken, without an expression on his face, started walking off the court. One of the boys called to him, "Hey, Smiley ... do you want to play?" Of course, he wanted to play and joined them. No one knew his name, so they all continued to call him "Smiley."

Ken lived up to that name ... he became a happier, smiling person and developed a fun sense of humor. He made many friends, played on the baseball and basketball teams, was the Sports Editor of the school newspaper and was called "Smiley" by all his friends throughout his high school years ... and when any of those friends see him in later years, they continued to call him "Smiley".

I've mostly called him, KEN, as that was what people called him when we met in college several years after his high school. Ken's children called him "Daddy" and "Dad" and the grandchildren call him "Pappy" ... that was the name that Ken called his grandfather, so he wanted to be "Pappy" too. Our youngest grandson, when he was learning to talk, would call "Pappy", but it sounded more like "Happy" -- Ken loved it ... Gavin would be running after him calling, "Happy, Happy, Happy!!!" Gavin also has a wonderful SMILE is is such a "happy" little boy.

Another "nickname" for Ken was given to him by the men that he played basketball with for years. They would play at the fieldhouse (large gym and indoor track) on the campus of Utah State University at during their lunch hour almost every weekday. They called themselves the NBA (Noon Basketball Association). Not only did the group enjoy the physical activity, but also the emotional release and social intereaction. Ken is a very competitive player and believes that everyone should "hustle" or "move it" to play their best. He believes that to play good defense, you have to "move it"... After yelling at the other players to "move it" many, many times, it was only natural that they started calling Ken, "Move It". This group of friends also call Ken, "Coach" sometimes because he tries to "help" they be better players!!!

Now that Ken has been coaching basketball for a few years, there are several young men who also call him "Coach", because that is what he is now.

When Ken and I started teaching in China, he gave the students the choice of what they would like to call him and most of them chose to call him "Smiley". Some of the students even called me "Mrs. Smiley" at times! They loved his "smile" and sense of humor. One of the songs we taught our students was "WhenYou're Smiling" ... (click on English Songs to see the words to this song).

So "KEEP SMILING" as you "MOVE IT" to participate in SMILEY's FUN RUN on October 21st 2006!!!!