Tandacookie by any other name

At the dawn of the internet, as I created my first email account, I had to think up a name for myself. Now, in those days, we didn't have to think too hard. It was an usual thing to get a message saying, 'username taken', so anything was possible. I didn't give a minute's thought before deciding upon my moniker, Tandacookie.

Over the years, all sorts of people have asked me about it. The lady at Air Canada bookings cared to hear the explanation. Clerks at stores who ask for my email address so that they can send me junk mail wanna know. Who is Tanda Cookie?

The answer is...nobody. Tanda Cookie doesn't exist. I'm not Tanda anything. Tandacookie is really T and a Cookie...T being short for tea, making my name 'tea and a cookie'. I was simply too lazy to write tea-and-a-cookie every time I wanted to enter an email address. Okay you say, so why 'tea and a cookie'?

My pat answer to explain to anyone who asks that in university, everyone knew that they could always come to my dorm room for tea and a cookie (I was always well stocked). Once the name stuck, friends would ask if I ever invited people up for tea and maybe a cookie. That euphemism stuck, too, by the way. The other day as I realized that Tandacookie is writing about food, I wondered if there could be a deeper reason why I chose the name. I think there is and I believe I've figured it out.

Unlike today's busy world where too many families eat on different schedules, my family sat down and broke bread together every night at precisely 6:00 p.m. My father would sit at the head of the table, and go around asking me and my siblings what we had done at school that day. From there, lively conversation abounded between my parents and my grandmother, who lived with us. Dinner was always simple but tasty. And then came dessert.

My mother and grandmother shared the baking duties, so we were never short on dessert. I think those two women shared some religious belief that one must have three dessert options every night. And we did. There was always some type of fruit pie along with my grandmother's strudel and one of two types of cookies.... chocolate chip cookies, or my grandmother's sugar cookies....everything homemade. And of course, there was tea. That's right; tea and a cookie every night. No wonder I've decided to write about food!

So why do I call myself Tandacookie? The more I think about it, the more I realize that for me, tea and a cookie means that full, happy, sleepy feeling after a great meal. It means comfort and deep satisfaction. Tea and a cookie describes what is most important to me...my family.

Tandcookie means home.