How many things can you rhyme with Uhde (pronounced Eww. D.)?
….I’ll give you a second….
I know of at least five that my “friends” in grade school liked to taunt me with.
This week, my precious Uhde – my last name of 28 years – officially became my middle name.
I’m a proud Shepherd, with a shiny new license to vouch for it. And now I’m imagining: For the first time, I’ll run into other people with my last name at the mall, or maybe at a restaurant when the hostess chirps “Shepherd,” more than just my group will run up to the hostess stand.
That’s never happened to me before.
Let me say this, too: I did debate long and hard, even years before I ever met my Mr. Shepherd, over whether I’d take my husband’s name after I was married. I love Uhde. Can’t help it.
When it came down to it, I didn’t have some mind-blowing reasoning. All I can say is that I’m honored to take my husband’s name and be united by that, and pass that on to our children. I also like the tradition of it, which my family has done for generations.
I very much admire the women who keep their last names, but I also realize that’s not for me.
Still, Uhde isn’t going anywhere. From now on, it’ll be sandwiched between the cozy normal-ness of my two other names.
And in the meantime, I’ll wonder: What does Shepherd rhyme with?
