Sedona, Arizona, And Learning To Bust Chops

When my Uncle announced to the family they’d be naming their daughter Sedona after “The most beautiful place we’ve ever seen” in Sedona, Arizona, what do you think his brothers and sisters said to him? 

Not, “What a lovely and original name!”

Not, “Oh that’s so sweet, show us those pictures you took again!”

Not, “What will you call her for short? Something cute like Sadie?!”

Sometimes, love is shown through busting chops. The conversation went something like this (at least as I remember it):

Oh, Arizona, huh? You too good for Pennsylvania now? 

PA doesn’t have a pretty enough city for you? Did you even think about… Altoona? 

Or Punxatawney? 

Or, oh I’ve got it, Tamaqua. Hey – Tammy could be short for Tamaqua! What’s wrong with Tammy Tamaqua? 

Sedona Arizona, come on…

My cousin Sadie’s grown up to be a lovely young lady despite all this. 

Busting chops isn’t being mean. It’s teasing and torturous, sure, but it’s not mean. It’s play fighting. It’s play dissenting. It’s the act of role-playing how anybody can take or throw a verbal punch, and still love each other in the end. 

We’re not perfect. Far from it. But lessons like this matter. 

If you take things too seriously, you’d miss all the chances to laugh together.