SPK

"- SPK"

That's how I sign off most of my correspondence with family and some of my friends. Yes, this is a "Krista trivia" post. The way I see it, since there are no upcoming plans for a eulogy so far (hooray!) this is the only opportunity for people to learn silly facts about my life.

My monogram is normally "KO". Or "KRO" (if I add in my maiden name), or "KLO" (if I add in my middle name) or "KLRO" (if I use all of them). This is why I don't have monogrammed towels.

But I also have a special set of initials: "SPK", for my title: Soeur Princess Krista.

Soeur came about after my brother Jim returned home from his mission in the Mascarene islands off of South Africa, including time spent on the French-speaking island of La Reunion, where he became fluent en Francais. I hired him as a summer intern at the company I worked for, and during orientation on his first day he asked me how he should address me at work. I guess I had a Peanuts' Peppermint Patty character moment, because I replied that he should call me "Sir." He agreed, since the French word for sister is soeur, which is pronounced kind of like a snobby butler saying "Sir".

Princess is a given, since I am the only daughter in my family, I have never pumped gas, and I am married to Prince Charming. And way up high in the family tree, out on a tiny branch, we eventually connect with the Tudor family of England. Being super-far-distant cousins to people like King Henry VIII is not exactly something we proudly display on family reunion t-shirts or anything, but it's kind of fun trivia.

Krista is the first name I was given. (Actually, I think the plan was to name me Stephen or something like that, until I was born a girl.) When I was little, my friends' moms used to have trouble pronouncing my name correctly, so I learned to answer to anything that began with a "K" sound: Kristy, Crystal, Kierstin, etc. Some people just call me Kris, which is fine and a little funny at family reunions, because just among my first cousins I have a Christopher, a Christie, a Christina, and a Crystal. A bunch of heads turn when someone calls out "Hey, Kris!"

As my youngest brother Blake likes to say, "and the first shall be last, and the last shall be first..." So I put these three together from last to first to compile my official title: Soeur Princess Krista. Sometimes Soeur Princess Krista The Brain-Damaged or Soeur Princess Krista the Tumor-Savant or Soeur Princess Krista the Cancer Survivor, or when my tiny article came out in December I jokingly became Soeur Princess Krista...of the Ensign. As long as no one is using swear words when they refer to me, I'm pretty happy.

My kids have an exclusive title for me that I like even better: MOM. (Or as they sometimes put it, "MOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!!!")

- SPK