The Birth of Emmalee Rose

Today, I went to court to change my name from Emily Rose to Emmalee Rose.

Why, Emily, would you want to change your name!?
I was named after my two grandmothers;
Nadean Rose Johnson
and
Audrey Emma Way
At some point in my life, my mom told me that she planned on naming me Emmalee, but didn't because it would be difficult to learn as a kindergartener. (lame) As I neared my 18th birthday, I was thinking that I wanted to do something meaningful and big, not smoke a cigarette, go gambling, or get a tattoo. I'm actually not allowed to get a tattoo... but whatever. I decided that, as a legal adult, I would represent myself in the court of law and change my name to pay more respect to a wonderful woman who had been in my life.

My grandmother was a very great woman. I mean great. When I was in second grade, both of my grandfathers died. My Grandma Way was suffering from dimensia (i believe the early stages of alzheimer's) and was moved to the st. anthony nursing home (across the street from Wilshire Park). I didn't really understand, I thought she was just moving closer because she didn't want to be alone after Grandpa Way died. Her poor memory never impacted me really at the time, but later on in my life, I realized how much it hurt my mom, and it was a really hard realization for me. My Grandma Way died while I was on vacation with my family in Yellowstone National Park and we left a couple days early to meet the rest of our family in Cresbard, South Dakota (where my mom grew up). I asked my aunt to bring me my violin so I could play at the funeral. Suzuki Book 1. gooooood stuff. What I really remember was after the funeral, I realized that I'd never see her again, and just started sobbing and went back into the sanctuary. The pastor came in and talked to me for a long while about my grandma and death. I got to keep the picture they had on top of her casket, and its still in my room.