Aw, you shouldn’t have…
Last week I received the perfect gift for my seventh wedding anniversary — from a co-worker.
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At a meeting I happened to mention this blog. She checked it out and then sent me a message: “I’m reading your blog and now I’m all confused about what I want to do re: changing my name. Hmm…”
To me, confusion is simply the predecessor to thinking, which, when considering a monumental decision like a name change, is imperative. (The sadness of post-name change regret, as I wrote in January, is magnified because it’s so easily avoided.)
I asked her what she and her significant other had been thinking of doing. “I was going to take his with mine as a middle name. Now maybe we’re both going to hyphenate,” she replied. Hooray! Not only identity preserved but equity!
Happily ever after is so much more likely when both spouses start with their identities intact. So congratulations, M. on thinking ahead, and thanks for the perfect gift.
Wow. I made the blog. You are welcome for the present (that I didn’t even realize I was giving).
It has always been important to my partner that I take his last name. And, I love his last name. It’s fun and pushes me forward in the alphabet. But this other part of me has always hated the idea of giving up me (although I don’t mind giving up my connection to my family – that aspect of my name doesn’t really affect me).
When I approached him about hyphenating both our names and he didn’t immediately dismiss it, I was startled. He’s thinking on it and it could be the perfect solution for the both of us. Plus, I like the idea of our own little family name that is unique to us.