Souksakone the Prophet

When I was in eighth grade, for a brief time I had a classmate named "Souksakone Soisaleumsack." The funny thing was, no one could pronounce that, so she only went by "Sou" (like Sue)--and everyone knew who that was. This was especially humorous when they called students to the office over the loudspeaker: "Suzy Jones. Bobby Hancock. Ryan Jackson. Sou. Ashley Michaels...." But I digress. I promise I do have a point here. (At least I think I do.)

Also when I was in eighth grade, I made an end table with two shelves in Industrial Arts class. I painted it light purple (my favorite color at the time) and had all my classmates sign it with a silver pen. This little table still serves as my nightstand, and last night as I was looking at it, I had to laugh when I saw this inscription: "Souksakone Soisaleumsack. Have fun with Steve K."

I remember being so upset with her when she wrote that, because the truth was, I did have a crush on "Steve K." And though she only meant it as a joke (I don't think she even knew I liked him--she just thought we would be cute together, for whatever reason), I was so embarrassed that anyone who saw that might think, or find out I liked him. (Ah, the mind of a junior-higher. Does anyone really miss those days??) So Sou at least added a little "(J/K)" at the end of her note on my table.

Fast forward eight years. I'm now engaged to be married to Steve K. If Sou only knew...