What's In A Name?

My daughter chose to add my last name of Colombo to her last name last Friday. We also learned from Ralph, that COLOMBO means "dove". We like this meaning :)
We went to court, made it official with the law, and had a ceremony with her oldest friends and their famililes. Nick Meima of Wedding For You performed this brief ceremony in our home. He is a wonderful celebrant who performs ceremonies of all kinds. He is also a colleague and friend of mine and it was wonderful to create a ritual to mark this moment in our lives. And ceremony, whether it's a wedding or a funeral or a name change, to me means transformation for the people involved. We bore witness to change, to a young girl taking a stand for herself, connecting to both sides of her families, and feeling more like herself. There is power and a great gift of energy we share when we invite others to participate in our ritual and personal transformation. It is one of the reasons I so love photographing weddings. It is such an honor to witness a couple committing to each other in front of their people; being seen. It is a great gift to me each and every time I bear witness - thank you again and again to my clients for this privilege. And thank you to my daughter, Maya Luna Colombo Hamilton, for taking a stand, for being herself and for sharing with all of us the gift of this moment. My heart is full and I give thanks!