"What will your new last name be?"

Drum roll please......dadadadadadadadadadadadada....

Christ.

Yep that's right. This girl ain't changing her name. The next question is always , "Why not?"
And I think, why SHOULDN'T I keep my name?

It's the name given to me almost 29 years to the day when I was born.

It's the name I have used professionally all over the country for the past 6 years. Changing it throws a wrench in my networking capabilities.

It has fewer letters than Dickson, and comes earlier in the alphabet so I'm always first. he he he.

I literally happen to be J Christ. How cool is that? Save for my mom, my brother, and my sister in law, not many people can claim that title.

I'm lazy. Changing it involves too much paperwork. I hate paperwork. DMV, SSA, multiple PT licenses, bank accounts, credit cards, 401k. It makes my head spin thinking about it.

I happen to be very independent and the thought of giving up my name to take someone else's seems so demoralizing. I mean why did the name change take place in the first place? As a sign of ownership. Yes ladies, we were once "owned" by our fathers. And given to a man to marry, not necessarily for love, forced to assume his last name. Now I know that in our society, this is no longer the norm, but the feminist side of me always remembers the history of it.

So when you ask me, "What will your new last name be?" Don't be shocked when I answer, "Christ." It's who I am. It's not for you or anyone to judge why I made this decision. I don't think it really warrants an explanation but I've tried to give you one here. A common last name does not make a family...remember that.

Sincerely,
The VERY soon to be MRS. Judi Christ