Emma, Big Emma….names are confusing around here. What’s up with that? Did we just name our Bus after me, its owner? This is often a question that needs some clarification.
When people meet us, we of course introduce ourselves, and Big Emma as well. People often are a bit confused, and tend to get our names mixed up. I always find it amusing when people just call the car “Emma” or take a look at our license plate and say to me “Oh, so you must be Big Emma!” Nope, sorry guys. That’s not quite right.
Just to clarify: My name is simply Emma. Our Bus is named Big Emma. She’s the larger of the two of us.
We did not name the Bus after me. That would just be a little weird, don’t you think? And more than a little confusing. No, actually Big Emma got her name through pure, beautiful coincidence.
My parents are super nice, and decided to surprise Sven and I with the Bus back in 2011 when we were looking for a vehicle to take us and two friends to California and back. They figured, what could be a more perfect roadtripper than a VW Campervan? My dad found the Bus online and flew from Illinois to Maine to inspect it, buy it, and drive it back.
As he was checking out the car, he noticed “Emma” written on the back bumper, decreed so by its previous owners. Way too much of a coincidence. He bought it, drove it home (he only broke down twice), and it was the surprise of a lifetime. We soon noticed the difficulty – as well as the beautiful irony – of this, and decided the best solution was to add an adjective in order to differentiate between the two. Big Emma lost that round of Rock, Paper, Scissors, and so she got her name.
Just one in a series of coincidences regarding Big Emma’s origin, the story just gets better. The family – who had previously traveled and lived in the Bus for over a year – was selling their beloved Bus to move back to their home country of Germany, to the city of Bremen. Even better – Andres, the family father, was actually from Braunschweig – the town that Sven and I lived in at the time and have called home for many years.
Of course, there is only one more piece of information you need in order to understand just how perfect Big Emma and I are for each other: we loved each others colors from the moment we met.
Big and Little Emma, ca. August 2012, Photo Credit: Andrew Fell
2 Comments
The blogs bring such joy to my heart!
I always LOVED road trips during my 20s, especially. My longest was only 23 days. LOL Thank you for sharing your fun, humor, and adventure with so many. Your mom said it best!