a little of the glory

It was the strangest thing, I have heard it said many, many times before but this time it caught me off guard, and I did not know who she was talking about.  It took, what seemed to be forever, only it was a second, for me to realize who she was talking about.  My Mom, Mellay, and I were standing in Mellay & Andrew's kitchen unpacking some stuff that we brought for them.  I was standing with a container of frozen sauce for them to have, and my Mom said to Mellay, "Mrs. Gallo makes great sauce".  I agreed with her and said I wish there was a way for us to have some.  When I looked at my Mom, she had the strangest look on her face, I was perplexed, she was looking at me as if I was a loon, then I caught on, she was talking about me....I am Mrs. Gallo.  Me, my Mother's daughter, her first borne girl.  She used another last name, not her's, not my Dad's, not my brother or sisters', not mine, but mine, it is mine, it is my last name.

Andrew and I have been married for almost 30 years.  I have heard my Mom say my last name thousands of times, she has said my husband's full name, Andrew, and Gabriella's full names an infinite amount of times.  Big and Little have been Mr. Gallo more times than I can count, even Gabriella has been Gabby Gallo, she has the hardest time saying "Gabriella",  billions of times.  Yet in all that time she has never, ever, not even once called me "Mrs. Gallo".  I was taken aback, shocked, confused, stunned.  It is true that I never dropped my maiden name, I hyphenated Gallo to it.  My reasoning clear, the only thing that I would ever truly have was my name.  I have never liked my given name, and made no bones about it for 52 years to my Mom, it was clear to me that my name was my name and no matter what happened it could never be taken from me, whether or not I liked it, it would be the only thing that I could have from birth to death, it belonged to me and only me.  My Dad gave me Mitty, the name I identify myself with, the name I introduce myself with, it is who I am.  When my Mom called me "Mrs. Gallo".  I think three decades went by in a matter of moments.  I guess that it means it is official now.  I am Mrs. Gallo.  Wow. Unreal.  What comes next does someone else call me something different, a new name, a new title?

well time slips away........