S---E---X .................... A.U.E.R began with a compromise

I'd been single for a long time!  My daughters were raised.  I'd worked hard, owned my own home (small but mine) and was supremely independent.  By the time I met Rick, Marisa was married and had two daughters.  Jaclyn was finishing up her second year at Case Western in Ohio and on track for med school.  So ....  My name was my name.  I didn't need another one. Especially THAT one. 

But ... Try as I might Rick could not be persuaded to change his name.  I suggested my name.  No go.  I suggested his middle name (Lee).  He was still not interested.  Maybe hyphenate?  Never, he said.  I offered to flip through a phone book and choose a random inoffensive name.  No.  He said he liked his name and he was just old fashioned enough to want me to take his name. 

So at ages 54 (me) and 56 (him) we compromised.  I'd had my phone number for 30 years, I said.  Everyone that mattered knew how to find me, I insisted.  If I took his name AND changed my number, they might lose me forever.   Fair is fair, I said.  So ... I changed my name to his ... and he changed his phone number to mine. 

Twelve years later, I sort of like the shock value of my new last name.  When necessary, I spell it slowly with a long, dramatic pause after the first three letters.