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About Me—smackincohen
Live in LA. Born NY. An important distinction.
Happiest on a beach or lost in a book.
name: (1) a word or combination of words by which a person or thing is regularly known; (2) an act of expression showing scorn…intended to hurt another’s feelings; (3) outward…deceptive indication; (4) overall quality as seen or judged by people; (5) a person who is widely known…much talked about. (Mirriam-Webster Synonyms)
Hi, y’all. I’m Suzann.
(1) AKA smackincohen, or Mack, or Mackin, or Smackin, or Su, or Mom, and most recently the moniker — Bestie. I’m not sure if this is a kindness, a manipulation, or a teenager mocking me — there’s a decent chance it’s all three, but he’s talking to me, so I’ll take it.
(2) I’ll skip the memory lane of taunts from the back of the elementary school bus and “nicknames” thrown during stoop ball or a round of kick-the-can.
Sticks and stones may break my bones, but names will never hurt me.
I’m rubber, you’re glue, whatever you say, bounces off of me and sticks to you.
As Gen X kids, our skins were thickened by these mantras.
Our skins were thickened by older siblings and neighborhood kids who understood the rites of passage and knew it was safer to leave you to the wolves than to coddle. There were dangers…

