Charles William Geddes Jr.
In his growing-up years, he was known as “Cholly.” I’ve heard two versions of how he was nicknamed this. One version is it’s a combination of “Chuck and Polly” - his parents, and the other version is Cholly is an English (“across the pond” English) version of Charles. I’m not sure which version of his name is accurate, but he was known as Cholly and this lasted through his teen years. Some cousins still refer to him as Cholly. When he grew into adulthood he felt “Cholly was too childish and wanted to be called Chuck, so we did. It was a hard transition to make, for me, I was so used to calling him Cholly all my life up to that point. He’s 11 years older than me.
I recently looked up the meaning of Cholly, and it’s meaning is “a colloquial term (then I had to look up “colloquial” which means “informal”), that is used to refer to someone or something that is cool, impressive, or admirable. It’s often used to describe a person, object, or situation that is trendy, stylish, or in line with current popular culture.” Maybe if he’d known the meaning he wouldn’t have changed it. He’s been a loving, kind, big brother.
Charles William Geddes with daughter Hannah Christine Geddes, then as an adult to become Hannah Geddes Wright. Second born to Charles (Chuck) and Polly, she says our dad called her “Dumpy.” She said she hoped it was short for “Dumpling,” which is an endearing name used by his generation for a loved one. I’m sure it was. Holding her like this reminds me of how he’d hold us to help us go potty. Us girls that is. Boys need no such help. In that old barn behind them we had stanchions to hold the cows while they were milked and behind them were shallow trenches to scrape their poop into and then at some point, the trenches would be emptied. By hand. Well, if us little girls had to pee and were in the barn, he’d help us by holding us like this over the trenches. His strong arms firmly holding me and I never doubted he’d let go of me. Such trust we have in our parents, we have complete faith in them. I remember this vividly. TMI (too much information)? Well, it’s a memory!
