A rose by any other name...

On Easter Sunday, I caught a little snippet of conversation between Annie and a couple of her cousins wherein they were informing her that when she got married, she would have to change her name.  Her response was to crinkle up her nose and defiantly state, "Well.  I am not going to.  I like my name how it is now.  Annie.  Rose.  Griffiths." 

They quickly dropped the subject.

I'll admit, it made me proud.  You see, I did not change my name when I got married.  It's not that I have anything against Griffiths, I just really liked my maiden name and it felt like who I was.  I didn't feel like a Griffiths. 

I thought it would be easy, but I guess around here it's unusual enough that it was a bit challenging.  I gave up explaining it at church after about 2 sweet little old ladies just couldn't understand why I didn't change it.  They all called me Katie Griffiths and I just kept my mouth shut.  Floyd never said much about it, but it was clear he would prefer if I would just change my name.  At work, I stayed Katie Christiansen and I liked having that identity.

But time moved on and eventually we moved away and I quit my job and nobody ever called me Katie Christiansen so I threw in the towel.  I couldn't think of anything to give Floyd for our 6th anniversary, so I officially became a Griffiths and gave him my new social security card for his present.  I sat in the Ogden Social Security office for two hours with two little kids to get it, so it felt like a big sacrifice.  I thought he'd be a little more excited about it than he was...oh well.

It's been over 10 years since I married and over 4 since I officially changed my name, but it still sounds wrong to me when people say it and it often takes me a minute to register that they are talking about me.  I wonder if that will ever change.  I do like having the same name as my kids and husband, but wish we did it like lots of other cultures that use both names. 

So I don't know what the moral of this fascinating little story is, but I did like to see Annie's spunk come out and I for one won't mind a bit if she decides she'd like to keep her name how it is.  I did put a lot of thought into that name, you know. 

P.S.  Don't tell, but when I'm feeling like a rebel, I sometimes tell people my name is Katie Christiansen.  Just people I don't know and won't see again so it won't confuse them or anything, but it feels kinda good to say it.