The Phone Book

Did you know that you get only one free listing in the phone book? How were we going to be listed?

It was an issue that only arose a few months into our marriage. We finally decided to get a land line phone.

Owens?
That wasn't really both of us.

Greene-Owens? That didn't seem fair either. I had chosen to hyphenate my name. My husband had not.

Stay unlisted?
We wanted to be included in the phone book (we had to get a land line because I never answer my phone book). My grandparents and older friends still look us up that way.

It was another dilemma. Another time my name came into question. Was my hyphen a mistake? Should I have chosen something easier. This was, after all, the way things worked now.

Another choice. Another time that I had to choose to see my name in a way that I did not see myself.

But, I chose the easy way. Mrs. Owens. Well, really, Katherine Owens. Katherine and Andrew Owens. You can find us in the phone book. Well, you can find him.

I guess it wasn't that bad after all.

~warmly~
Katherine