I wanted to take a moment to say goodbye as Monica Kennedy. No, I am not leaving Gather, I am getting divorced and taking back my maiden name. Soon I will appear on Gather as Monica Swartzenberg. I am taking back my maiden name. I had thought about shortening it to Zenberg (may on gather anyway) but found out that there is a lot of paperwork to be done for that including changing my birth certificate. I may use Monica Zenberg as a pen name for my writing career - since Zenberg is much easier (and kind of cool sounding) than Swartzenberg. So, don't be confused by the new name - I will keep "formerly Kennedy" in my name until the divorce is final in 60 days. That should give everyone time to get used to the new name and prevent confusion as much as possible.
Thank you all for your support over the past few months - it has meant a lot to have my gather friends carrying me through a difficult time. Things are looking great for my future, and I feel blessed.
rate
email
print
link to this page
Comments: 39
But I'm happy to hear you are looking forward to a new chapter in your life.
My family's ancestry includes royalty from Austria and there is still a palace in Austria that bears our last name. Palais Schwartzenberg (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palais_Schwarzenberg) is in Vienna Austria. Members of our ancestry include (I just learned this – it's pretty cool): Prince Charles Philip of Schwarzenberg - I thought it was interesting to read on wikipedia that he "was sent to Paris to negotiate the marriage between Napoleon and the Archduchess Marie Louise of Austria. The prince gave a ball in honour of the bride on 1 July 1810, which ended in the tragic death of many of the guests, including his own sister-in-law, in a fire."
I had not read bout Charles before, but had learned about Felix from our encyclopedia when I was a kid. Felix Prinz zu Schwarzenberg is Charles' nephew. I had read that he was thought of as a tyrant – wikipedia does not say this but does say "Schwarzenberg was widely respected in Europe as an able statesman, although not much trusted (his own statement following the Russian intervention in Hungary that Austria would "shock the world by the depth of its ingratitude" may have played a part in this), and his early death has generally been seen by historians as a grave setback to Austria, as none of his successors possessed his stature or skill."
When our ancestors came to the US, they Americanized our last name to Swartzenberg. My Aunt and Uncle once tried to tour the palace, but it is now a private residence and they did not seem to care if we were very distant relatives or not!
There is a second palace Schwartzenberg in Progue also. It is related to the family as well, but I am not sure of its history.
"It's your choice in the end, but I hope that you will keep your name."
DAMN RIGHT!!!
Anyway, good for you.
Thomas-Frost, well my brothers middle and last name was Thomas Frost, so everybody kept trying to put a Thomas in my name too! When I got divorced, I just went back to my maiden name. The only connection I had to my married name was my children, and that was the way I wanted it. (though my alias at the government looks ten miles long because of the married divorced maiden name thing!) I hope you have a much better path now. God Bless you.
Everyone - thanks for the comments!
Your articles have been and will continue to be great to read, no matter what name they come under!
Thanks for all the info!
My husband and I filed for divorce many years ago (we didnt go through with it) but I had to consider wether to keep my married nam or change it to my maiden namre. I decided I would keep it. My children have this last name, two of them always will (boys) and I can have no more children so I decided that even if we did divorce I would still keep his name (by george I earned it LOL)
Mo - you glow too!
Julie - I feel the same way - if we had kids together i would have kept kennedy. We did not, though, and I felt it was necessary for me to make a full break from a difficult situation. I enjoyed being a kennedy and have nothing against the name itself, but I feel the change signifies change in my life. This has been a hard situation, but I am moving on and growing. I know I will come from it a better person.