Art by He qi What's in a name? A while ago I was chatting with a friend about what was going on in her life and she was asking about me as well. There was an exchange of information, emotion and even story. She shared anecdotes from her life and eventually we came to a discussion about our names. She has been married for several years and when she was getting married she decided to hyphenate her maiden and married name. She was surprised however when I told her my maiden name had been Rain. "What? I thought your maiden name was Lamont!" I simply explained than when I got married, I decided to drop my maiden name, add my husband's name and retain my given first and middle names. I explained why my Mom had given me my middle name (after a high school friend that she looked up to.) and was ready to go on to the next topic of discussion when she stammered," I though I knew who you were, but your name isn't what I thought it was!" Then she jokingly added, &q
Life is tough, but hope is tougher.