I liked my given name: Bridget Kathleen Houlihan. It came with heritage baked in.
I was 4 years old the day my babysitter, Phyllis, couldn’t come watch me. I’d be in my mom’s 7th grade math classroom with her and the BIG kids instead.
Yippeee! I bounced with excitement in the desk I’d selected in the front row, sorting through my crayons, looking for shades of green.
It was the week of St. Patrick’s Day, and I wore a new t-shirt with a shamrock on it. My favorite holiday pin was on my jean jacket too. A leprechaun on the pin flashed green lights on and off, and it read, “I have green roots!”
Every time Mom got her students quieted down to work, I’d announce, “I have GREEN ROOTS!” and was rewarded with gales of laughter.
Not even the quelling death look I got from my mom, Patricia Mary Connors Houlihan, could put a stop to my fun. Her patented mom look was missing its sting because she was having a hard time stifling her own laugh.
That day I was every bit a Houlihan.
Only when George Hayman Jr. got down on one knee in front of my parents and about 70 of our friends at his 50th Birthday party, did I instinctively know I’d take a new name if it meant I got to share his.
“This is my most treasured possession,” he said, flipping open a small red box to reveal a timeless diamond. I didn’t know he’d kept it or that he’d had it secretly re-sized.
“It’s my mom’s ring,” he went on. “You are the most important person in my world and make it better. Will you marry me?”
My “Yes!” was captured on a dozen iPhone cameras as our friends and family surrounded us with a cheer.
George kissed me and slipped the ring on my finger. It fit me perfectly. So does he.
I’ve never taken off. I look at it when it sparkles every day and feel deeply grateful toward my mother-in-law, Anna Hayman, for raising the man who trusts me with his heart.
He brings me flowers every time he goes to the grocery store, leaves a cup of coffee for me on the bathroom vanity when I’m in the shower, and surprises me with clean sheets on a Wednesday.
Both of George’s parents passed away too soon, long before he and I got together.
When we were dating, we discovered early on that our parents had something wonderful in common. Both sets were married on the same day in different years. We considered that a good omen and decided to make that day our own.
So on September 8, 2015, I surprised my mom by wearing her wedding dress when my dad wheeled me down the aisle to meet George — 42 years to the day after she wore it to take her vows.
That day I became Bridget Houlihan Hayman.
Additional note: Here is a video Geo made that we showed at our wedding reception. It includes pictures from both of our parents’ weddings.