They call me Lil' Rusty

I have had a few nicknames in my day. I seem to get a new nickname in different stages of my life. When I was a baby (sometimes still to this day) my family called me [Sweetie] Petie Pie, Petie for short. The nickname Petie Pie is still dear to my heart because it is, I guess you would say, the most intimate nickname. It is one given to me by family in my earliest years. Over time I developed the good ol initials nickname, JG. "Hey JG" the masses would shout.

All the years and nicknames were preparing me for the grandest of nicknames. This is my River name, the name Mother Nature gave me. Today I share with you the story of how I became Lil Rusty.

The year was 2013. It was my first time attending a float trip. For anyone who isn't familiar with a float trip Urban Dictionary defines it as "Once springtime hits in Missouri, it is time to take a float trip. This involves floating down a river in a canoe, raft, or inner tube. You pay a relatively cheap price for your floating device and then you're off!". This pretty much sums it up, except doesn't mention all of the great memories and friendships you will make.

There will be other post detailing all of my favorite float trip memories, no worries, but this post is Lil Rusty's tale.

I would also like to mention that a lot of the girls I had never met before or met maybe once. Example: Emma and I had met only once previous to this trip and that was on my first Mardi Gras trip to St Louis where we spent most of the day trying to find Emma and failed. Anywho back to what we came here for.

We had gotten to the river Friday, floated Saturday, and partied both nights and now Sunday was upon us. We decided that before we packed up all of our belongings and headed back to the city we would go lay by the river for a bit. We were a tad bit sluggish due to the events that transpired the past two days. The other girls were laying out in the sun, soaking it in before we had to "go back to reality". Next thing I know Emma and I were searching for the perfect rocks to skip across the still river. We were like little kids scooping up stone after stone and holding it the air then giggling because we picked up what had seemed to be the matching stones. We would then come together at the rivers' edge to showcase our skipping' skills. What felt like hours we continued to gather rocks and toss them in the river. I say toss because we definitely weren't the best stone skippers but boy were we having a blast. Just two grown ass adults having the best of times doing something as "simple" as skipping' a stone. We tried every technique in the book and just kept "failing". There was something so comical about failing something that should be so easy. Each time we would hold that stone in the air we couldn't help but laugh. I felt like I had the soul of a child again searching for those rocks. After awhile Emma sighs and says "All I can get is Two skips" to which I reply "I know I am a Lil Rusty" and in that moment we became Two Skips and Lil Rusty and life would never be the same.

Mother Nature and the river knew the wonderful friendship that would come from two girls skipping stones and for that I am honored and grateful to be Lil Rusty.