Some of you may not know this, but identity theft is a very common crime that pervades much of our community. I myself did not know how serious it was until very recently when I had my own identity stolen. That’s right, Madame Horahan was disposed of and replaced by Madame Botwright.

Josh and I got engaged last October and shortly afterwards, I realized that he would soon be the downfall of my identity. There was only so much I could do to stop the train that was already rolling and picking up steam. I tried to escape, tried to deny, and even tried to convince Josh to take MY last name, with no success. What a chump! But alas, Madame Horahan is no more and along came Madame Botwright. Rats.

Here’s an acronym to show the range of my reactions after changing my name:

 B etter than Botwrong, I suppose.
 O h no! What have I gotten myself into?
 T oo late now! I’ve already said yes.
 W hat’s my name again?
 R eally? Couldn’t it have been easier to pronounce?
  I   don’t see why he couldn’t have taken my name…
 G reat for making fun of, not that my old name was any better.
 H ow do you spell that again?
 T o tell the truth, I guess it’s not so bad.

So after finally coming around to embracing this new name, I realized a few things. First of all, the qualities I possess that I associate with the Horahan name such as a prowess for smack-talk, feistiness, and my unique cackle have not disappeared. Second, I am learning to incorporate some of the Botwright qualities that my lovely husband has into my own life including patience, diplomacy and cooperation. Not that I was a complete dud before! Or was I… Third, while I have become a part of the Botwright family, he has also become a part of mine.

I guess that when you change your name, you have a lot of things to gain like love, family, and a new beginning. So there’s a chance I will survive this initially unfavourable alteration in my life.

But don’t tell Josh that, because I plan on milking this for as long as I can!