Does anybody read these?

The Daisy Thing...

I don't think I've ever mentioned exactly why I have a thing for daisies. I'm sure most of you don't know that to this day, I have an aunt, uncle and a cousin who call me "Daisy." Daisies are my favorite flower, and I've always said if I get married my bouquet will be daisies and white and yellow roses. If someone ever did want to send me flowers -- I'm not holding my breath -- daisies would be an excellent choice. I mentioned that yesterday, too, didn't I?

But why Daisy? Why such a random nickname? And why did a totally random nickname become a huge part of my identity?

It was a totally random thing, so it's kind of funny now. Maybe I'm partly thinking about it because of the daisy sale e-mail I got yesterday, but I think part of it has to do with the fact that I'm hoping to get a tattoo tonight, and it's not going to be a daisy. I always thought it would be. It's been at least 10 years that I've wanted one, because Mike was the one who told me not to do it.

The Daisy thing came from the Dukes of Hazzard television show. My brother and I watched it every week. My brother, you'll remember, is named Luke. My uncle Mike called him "Luke Duke." So, if he was "Luke Duke," and I was his sister, then I must be "Daisy," right?

My Uncle Mike and my Aunt Foo and their kids have called me Daisy ever since. When I was in high school and worked at a store Aunt Foo (her real name is Josephine, and I have no idea where "Foo" came from), stopped by and asked if Daisy was working. They told her there was no Daisy working there, and she called my mom to see what happened.

My Uncle Mike, to this day, I don't think knows my real name. I called once to their house and I said "Uncle Mike, this is Laura."

Dead silence.

Finally, realizing he had no clue after 25 years who Laura was, I corrected myself. And then I heard, "Hey, Daisy, how are you doing?"

I think daisies are beautiful. And even though it's a silly nickname that only three people call me and I'm really not cute enough to pull it off in real life, I've always identified with it. That's why I've always had the idea of a daisy tattoo in the back of my mind.

Daisy Duke has come and gone, even though Jessica Simpson did her best to obliterate all happy memories I had of her in that Dukes movie. We'll politely mention Daisy was a brunette, and not comment on the rest.

I've gotten in the habit of linking to my favorite blogs here on my MySpace blog. I am not a huge fan of MySpace (I started really using it because someone told me that it was easier to click on my picture than remember an address when e-mailing me), but I do have friends there who try to get over here once in a while. So, when there's something worth stopping by, they do. But the comments they leave usually end up over there.

Yesterday, Myke read the post about the flowers and mentioned the song "A Daisy A Day," which I hadn't heard in years. It is a beautiful song. And once again, I'm left to dream that someday a man will feel that way about me.

Here are the lyrics:

A DAISY A DAY
Written by Jud Strunk

He remembers the first time he met her, he remembers the first thing she said,
He remembers the first time he held her and the night that she came to his bed.
He remembers her sweet way of sayin' "Honey has somethin' gone wrong?'
He remembers the fun and the teasin' And the reason he wrote her this song.

I'll give you a daisy a day, dear I'll give you a daisy a day.
I'll love you till the rivers run still and the four winds we know blow away.

They would walk down the street in the evenin', and for years I would see them go by
And their love that was more than the clothes that they wore could be seen in the gleam of their eye.
As a kid they would take me for candy and I'd love to go taggin' along,
We'd walk holding hands to the corner And the old man would sing her his song.
I'll give you.....
He walks down the street in the evenin' and he stops by the old candy store,
And I somehow believe he's believin' He's holdin' her hand like before.
For he feels all her love walkin' with him And he smiles at the things she might say
Then the old man walks up to the hill-top and gives her a daisy a day.
I'll give you a daisy........

posted by Laura at 9:17 AM