From the time Helen was in grammar school, she liked to “play” with names. Once when her teacher asked her what her Father’s name was she replied “Albert.” When her Mother asked why she had told the Nun her father’s name was “Albert” she said she thought Alexander was an awful name!
Helen used many names growing up. There was Claire Sherwood. She thought that sounded like a classy name. Her Aunt May's mother-in-law, who was an Eastern Star, had the last name of Sherwood and so, when she was pretending to be someone “classy,” she called herself Claire Sherwood. Helen liked to write and since writers often had a nom-de-plume she decided that Velda Shapiro had that certain author-sounding ring about it.
When her first granddaughter, Catherine, was born, she made a scrapbook with pictures and stories to welcome her. She signed it “KG” for Kookie Grandma. The family thought this was pretty funny so we all started to call Helen “KG.” As Catherine started to learn the alphabet and speak, she couldn’t say “KG” but said “CD” instead. We all thought this was even funnier, so we also called her “CD” which eventually became “Seedy.”
The extended family of Helen’s daughter-in-law couldn’t bring themselves to let their children call Helen, “Seedy,” so instead, they nicknamed her Sweetie. She liked that name too.
Not satisfied with her accumulation of names, when her first twin great-granddaughters were born she signed their card “Gigi” for Great-Grandmother. That name stuck.