What is in a name?

So, now that I am in the newly married club I have discovered the hardest part of getting married - changing your name! Prior to getting married I struggled with the decision - I have always been my name, and to change that felt like I would be giving up the last 26 years of me and who I was. At one point we discussed me hyphenating my name or both of us hyphenating our names, and other wonky options ...... but in the end it was my decision, with a very understanding to-be-husband. We wanted our kids to have the same surname as us - both of us, it was just a connection we wanted for them for some reason!

This was my perceived dilemma; I am extremely proud of my family name and all the years that my father and his father and his put into making it stand for something meaningful. In fact, I am so proud of our family name that I actually asked my Dad if we could make his ex-wife change her name back after the separation because I didn't want her to have it because I didn't believe she represented it well. So, needless to say, I have a serious attachment to my old surname!

However, I gave it time and thought, the biggest thing for me was that my husband is the last in the line of his surname ...... which means our kids will be the only future carriers of this line, and I am proud to be responsible for that - does that make sense? Ty's grandfather (before he passed almost year ago) even asked his Dad if he thought Ty and I would get married and have kids ..... basically asking if the family name would be carried forward to the next generation. When I took that to heart and thought about what I wanted for my new family and our future kids, I decided it was a part of my commitment to Ty and them - and our future together, and to show us as a family. It doesn't change who my parents are, or what they have worked for, it does not diminish that at all! But Ty is my new family and changing my name is something that tangibly links us.

So, I have a new name - a new email address, a new batch of ID's, a new business card, a new voicemail, a new husband ...... and although it is taking me a while to master my new signature, I am loving my new last name - I am loving being a Mrs., I love that Ty wears his wedding band - I find it incredibly handsome, and although we were committed to one another long before a wedding day, I love that we had a day where our family and friends watched us make those vows to each other ..... it is unforgettable! .... And I have watched the video of our beach wedding at least 10 times ..... and I must say, it has become a guilty pleasure of mine, every time I watch it Ty catches me and says "you're watching it again!", but I love it ..... and sitting down and watching it, it is more amazing and perfect and funny then I imagined!

So, a new last name ...... same person.

xo,
S