SUMMARY: should I change my surname?

[Deborah Merriam]

=) I realized after I got a prompt in e-mail that I hadn't stated what 
*I* have decided to do in the summary I posted last night! So, for the 
record, I've concluded that I'll *always* think of myself as Deborah Lee 
Merriam, and that I want to continue to publish under that name. However, 
I also wanted the rite-of-passage and symbolism of sharing a name with my 
husband. So, I am going to take my fiance's surname as a new middle name 
(Deborah Lee Peckham Merriam, or D.L.P. Merriam), and he has agreed 
to do the same (Michael Harold Merriam Peckham, or M.H.M. Peckham). We're 
delighted with the idea - I came up with it on my own, although somebody 
else did mention it in this thread after we'd discussed it. (And we 
thought we were being so original! ;).

Thanks again, everybody! I hope this thread won't die just because I've 
made a decision. =)

Deborah Merriam, dmerriam at gpu.srv.ualberta.ca