this is a true story

My mother is surprised that I'd never heard it before. I'm hearing a lot of stories these days; epecially from Dad. The pressure on his frontal lobe is impacting his thinking, and lately he has been prone to lengthy musings on things. It's unusual; it means that he's talking more than I'm accustomed to. But Mom told me this one.

Thirtysome years ago, a certain Mrs. Tubes was laboring hard in the pregancy ward of a Chicago hospital. It was apparently a long labor; she was carrying twins. So she had plenty of time to hear what she believed to be the voice of God, telling her what she should name her baby girls. Beautiful, unusual names.

Five years later, the girls were in kindergarten, and their teacher was a friend of my parents'. It was the first day of class, and the teacher was having a hard time reading the girls' names from her class list. So she sounded them out.

Fallopian and Eustachian.

I didn't know what to do, she told my mother later. I felt like I should say something, but they were five years old! What good would it do?

Mom thinks her friend should have said something. I just wonder how long it took before someone did.