Name Change

When I got divorced I checked the box to change my name back to my maiden name of Chavez. When The Ex saw that he pitched a fit, “we’ve been married ten years, this is an amicable divorce, we’re still friends, blah, blah, blah”. In other words, he convinced me to keep his name.

I recently found out that The Ex is now engaged. My reaction is mixed – certainly no jealousy because I am incredibly happy with Dude and where my life is now. The best way to describe it is I’m happy he found someone. I just hope he treats her far better then he ever treated me. Sadly though, from what I hear, he hasn’t changed so I fear he’s destined for failed marriage number two.

Back to the topic of discussion…now that he is getting married I think I should go back to my maiden name. No offense to him (we are still friendly) but his name means nothing to me, it’s just a daily reminder of a past failure.

On the other hand, my maiden name is from my father who I’ve met maybe 4 times in my life. So other then the connection to my siblings, that name means very little to me also. I think professionally it’s a great name – Esther Chavez just screams Hispanic. With my career aspirations it looks great for companies to have female minorities in senior management.

Finally, no one can pronounce my current last name (it’s a long “e” at the end). At the marathon finish I was Esther Le, Le, Le, Esther from The Sticks, VA.

But “Esther Chavez – You Are An Ironman”! Now that’s sweet!