Tallulah.....Wife of M

First, a few ground rules. Sadly, my real name isn't Tallulah but henceforth it's how I will be known in order to preserve my husband's and children's nonGoogleabilty status. Should their own accomplishments and infamies get them listed, fine. But they won't be searchable on account of my rantings.


I was formerly Tallulah, wife, mother, reporter, friend, traveler, reader, frustrated writer. I'm now Tallulah, my job is Wife, and my social space is most easily identified as Wife of M. We(enlightened couples always speak in We form) accepted an overseas assignment and we are now a Company Family. I'm a Company wife, who owing to her refusal to change her last name must often sign off as "Tallulah (wife of M ).


Here's how it works. I send e-mail to maintenance company to alert of termite infestation and when I sign off I sign "Regards, Tallulah, (wife of M)" so that said maintenance company can properly locate me within their context. But it goes beyond the maintenance company.

Invitations to periodic, company-sponsored "spouse appreciation" luncheons often say to Tallulah (M.) Depending on my state that day, I've alternately railed/laughed at the parentheses. Of course, it's technically a clerical issue, so that the poor mail guy knows in which office to drop off the invite. But as I write this it occurs to me that by taking new last names, wives are really just saving everyone else ink, kindly eliminating the need for parentheses. Perhaps most wives aren't so uniquely bombarded with reminders that their meta-physical space is now defined in relation to another but from this distance it all looks the same to me.

Interesting, I had no idea this first posting would lead to that mental conclusion.