“Big’un” and “Lit’lun”

At my first full-time pastorate in Florida we had two grown brothers who attended with their families.  They were actually twins, but were not identical.  In fact, one was considerably larger than the other.  Since birth their parents called them “Big’un” and “Lit’lun.”  

As pastor I suppose that at one time I knew their names, but that was not important—no one else seemed to.  All their extended family and friends simply called them “Big’un” and “Lit’lun.” (Big one and Little one)

I soon got into the swing of things and would even refer to them as “Big’un” and “Lit’lun” from the pulpit.  No one would have recognized who I was referring to if I had used their actual names.  In fact it was “Big’un” and “Lit’lun” who taught me and Winona to eat raw oysters with soda crackers and hot sauce.

To this day I cannot eat oysters or even hear them mentioned without thinking of the twins, “Big’un” and “Lit’lun.”  I doubt, however, whether I would still remember them after forty years if their names had been Jack and Joe.