And What's More ...
Ooh, I got lots of comments on the marriage/name change thing. I don't think it's generational at all, btw, not based on the comments, anyway, and my friend the Chum, about my age, also kept her original name for many, many years, until all three of her stepsons were married and she was the only one left in the family with a different name. She also went from an easy name to an easy name, for whatever that's worth.
We have a family story that goes with this; forgive me if I've told it before. We were sitting at the dinner table when the girls were very little. K was still in a highchair, so R was maybe, maybe four. And she asked out of nowhere, as kids do, how people got their last names. We explained that children generally got their father's last names, and as for women taking their husband's names, it was only a custom, and that it was completely up to the individual's choice whether or not to do it, and so on.
She thought about it for all of maybe 30 seconds and said in a huff: "My husband is not my father! I will never change my name!" and she pointed at the baby and said "And neither will she!" Well. Okay then. (It hasn't come up yet for either of them, but I would guess that R will keep what she's got. K, I don't know.)
I found that being a teacher actually made it very easy to get used to having a different name because from the get-go, people are calling you Mrs. Newname all day long. Anyway, for me, it worked out this way. For others, it works out a different way. What I really can't stand is when people give their kids hyphenated names that turn out to be, you know, Mary Elizabeth Rosenberg-Wallerstein. Give me a break. No computers can handle it, and by the time they're in high school, the kids are saying "Just call me Mary Rosenberg" or whatever; they're cutting it short to be able to manage their daily lives. If you're having kids, I believe in picking a name and sticking with it. Again, that's just me.
So I got my toy today, and I've been playing with it all afternoon since I got back from physical therapy, which I am totally done with because now, let me tell you, my arm hurts like hell and has for two weeks (since I started p.t.) Going to the doctor next week, I'll probably need a CAT scan. Once again, more doctor stuff.
And that's that.
WATCHING GILMORE GIRLS :: ENTRY #1807
SUMMER BOOK #3: The Yiddish Policemen's Union by Michael Chabon
I chose my working name and enjoy being that person to the larger world. In my private life I've never cared what my last name was until now, it was changed for me 3 times before I even got married to Mike so there's no meaning to any of them except as markers of who my mother was married to at that time. I'm looking forward to taking Mick's name because a) it's fun to write, b) I love Mick and his family and am happy to be one of them, and c) together with my chosen first name (LA) it means I have 5 vowels in an 8 letter moniker. I'll be vowel-licious! ~LA
ReplyDeleteKind of to piggy-back onto LA's comment -- my real mom has been married four times, and each time she's taken the last name of her husband. When she was married to Dad (husband #1), she did not use her maiden name as her middle name, but she has done so with subsequent marriages. So far as I know, she is still using her last husband's surname, which amuses me a bit since I think it's been 15 years since they were divorced. I don't know why she just doesn't go back to her maiden name -- it's much easier to spell and pronounce, being a VERY simple name, than her current last name.
ReplyDelete