My mother was named after a vaudeville dancer and circus performer. That performer also had a Pullman boxcar named after her. That means my mother was named both after the performer and after the Pullman car. So I can legitimately refer to my mother as Circus Mama, Vaudeville Mama, and Boxcar Mama.

I’m going use all three nicknames when referring to her.

My mother would absolutely adore these terms of endearment if she were still alive, especially Boxcar Mama. I can see her laughing and taking a drag off her Virginia Slim then tapping her too-long ashes into the amber-colored cut-crystal ashtray before picking up the cordless phone to call her two oldest children and let them know their little sister is at it again with the wordplay and, as a result, she will henceforth be known as Boxcar Mama.