The Knees and The Elbows

     A few days into my freshman year of college, a girl who had been in my orientation group and who was also in many of my classes since we were both biology majors, approached me and said she had a joke to tell me. This was kind of odd – the girl seemed very shy, why would she go out of her way to tell me a joke?

               A woman who was expecting a baby went to the hospital when she went into                 labor.  She and her husband were very surprised and excited when two babies were             born instead of just one – twins! A boy and a girl.

             The Dad's brother asked if he could name the twins? The new Mom and new Dad            smiled when the new uncle asked because he was mentally challenged, and they                  could not imagine what names he would come up with for the babies.

             “For the girl,” the uncle said, “her name can be Denise.”

             The Mom and the Dad looked at each other and nodded, “Denise is a lovely name            for the baby girl. What about the boy?”

             And the new uncle replied, “De-nephew.”

     So that was why the classmate wanted to tell me the joke! Because my name is Denise.      And that was the first time I had ever heard it.

     And every time someone has told me that joke since then, nigh on forty-four years now, I usually respond, “Wow! That's the first time I've heard that one!”

     On our family reunion to Buffalo and Vermont last week, my brother, Eric, at one point referred to me as “De-knees and De-elbows.”

     And that made me laugh.

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