edited Letter to Emily dated 5/25/09: On names,

RoseE writes:

"25 May ‘09

Dearest Em,

I always thought that giving up your last name would be one of the roughest parts of getting married. Names are important. So much of your identity and history gets tied into them. It’s like letting go of a version of yourself, which can be scary or liberating or both. Since I am a wuss, I just keep making my name longer as my life goes on, so I’m currently Sister Rose Evelle RoseE Arianne Han Chang Mi Hadden. (I just picked Han Chang Mi as my Korean name this week. Han’s as close to Hadden as we’re gonna get in Korean family names, and was the name of one of the Royal dynasties of Korea, which is why the country’s name is Korean is Hanguk, the Kingdom of Han. And Chang Mi means both “Rose” and “Sublime beauty.” Pretty, but pretentious, just like my American name.)

It has just occurred to me that I must learn how to spell “Deckenback.”* Darn it. I was just getting to where I could do “McConnell” right 9 times out of 10.

I don’t know if all of the above was “exactly what to say.” You say I always know this, but I never feel like I do. But I love you and always will, and will be your best friend no matter what your name is or where you live. Even on the other side of the world, as evidenced.

Hugs for Jeffry, too!

RoseE"



*She just spelled it right!