It's all in the Name
This past September I got married to my best friend… But let me take a few steps back…
My full name is Briana Eve'lyn Lucia Grenier, that’s pronounced Br-eye-on-a EVE-lyn Lou-sea-a Gr-N-yay
but my entire life everyone has pronounced my name wrong. Luckily my parents also at the time of birth gave me the nickname Breezy, which suits me much better, and yes it is on my birth certificate. So kind of like Cher, my whole life (including my time in the military) I went by Breezy, so the idea of a last name really was nothing more than something I wrote formally on paper, or something announced in a waiting room when it was my turn for an appointment, which again would never be pronounced correctly.
So after I got married, I was excited to maybe have a new last name, because I might actually “have a last name” (I knew that wouldn’t be the case with a name like Breezy, you never know), but then I went to go change it… See not all women are like me. Changing your last name is suppose to be “free”, yes with Social Security, “free” if not a few of dollars for changing it on your license, and if you had a new passport again “free”… but that is not the case for me.
Along with my driver’s license ($72) and passport (because I had it over well more than a year $110), I also have several certifications and licensing (ex. captains license, TWIC, GE, etc.), in which changing your name is not “free”… So if you total it up, to change my last name, it will cost almost a thousand dollars… to be precise $892 plus if I needed anything expedited (which I would, because I am always traveling outside the country last minute) would cost extra.
So back to the story, people are extremely upset that I haven’t changed my last name yet. My husband and I both agreed that spending $1,000 right now would be a waste of money, when a good majority of my licensing is due up for renewal in 2023, I would wait a few years to change everything then. Again we both agreed.
If it is something informal (Christmas cards and thank you letters) of course I write my new last name, Mollicone, but everything official (such as paperwork, newspaper and TV interviews) I use my legal last name (some have published my last name with a hyphen, but I personally don’t like that… Grenier-Mollicone… doesn’t have a pleasant ring to it, and much to long). On Facebook I changed my last name before looking into the cost of legally changing it, so I am going by my future last name, and it is actually funny how much trouble that has been causing. From people not being able to search of me, to having checks written out to the wrong name, and my previous experience not being “Google search linked”, to being accused of misleading people, I have been astonished with the outcome.
So this is what I have to say: “It is my last name, which I never go by anyways, and if you are that offended that I haven’t changed my last name yet, I will gladly accept one thousand dollars from you for me to change my last name, so you can sleep better at night.” Please make the check out to BREEZY GRENIER