A Rose By Any Other Name

So for those of you that do not know, I have changed my name back to my maiden name Fay Octavia Elliott.

I still have the very first Social Security card that I received at 15 with that name on it. My new card now has the same name. So I have two. I remember how eagerly I changed my name the first time almost 40 years ago. I was so excited to be Mrs. Michael Gillis. Many years later, I did it again and became Mrs. Lawrence Moore. I have decided that from now until I die I will be just me and not apendage myself to someone else.

I am not saying I will never marry again because indeed, I hope I will. But the only reason I can imagine to change one's name now is for the sake of the children and the confusion it causes in their lives. After over 30 years of being married, I never had children. All these years though I have had me, and it seems on many levels never claimed me. I never even told anyone that Octavia was my middle name. As a child it was a source of embarassment. I asked, "Why would my parents do that to a child?" Now I am told I have a beautiful, elegant name. Perhaps I had to grow into it. I know I have grown to love it. I now have to get used to saying it and writing it.

So am I someone different now that I have a different name? Only time will tell. Perhaps the name was changed to catch up with the me that I have already become.

Fay Octavia Elliott