Sticks and stones, that's not your name and the world is flat!

 When I was a little girl, I recall the childhood sing song, "Sticks and stones can break my bones, but names will never hurt me!"  Thank goodness we repeated this and other sing song affirmations, over and over in the playground when bullies called us names or accused us of things we did not do. It helped us to believe in the best of ourselves. 

"Liar,liar, pants on fire!" Oh the childhood cruelties we experienced.  But most of us grew up - and we survived our childhood mini-traumas and emerged stronger as a result.  Unfortunately, some bullies never grow up.  Perhaps this is true of the bully who has been trolling me for many years.

Bullies are often very insecure people. Their focus on others keeps the focus on their own short comings out of the public eye.  Over the past several years, I have been bullied online - and the accusations have been everything from - "she is not who she says she is" to "she was a child bride". (yeah - we can talk about that in another post!)

When hearing and reading things that were said and written about me - I felt that my best defense was to remain quiet.  People will believe what they choose to believe.  Some people in this world still believe that the world is flat - contrary to every bit of evidence presented to them. I know that the people who know me - the important people - know WHO I am.  They have seen the evidence over the years.

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And so, this online troll, this keyboard bully insists that I am not who I claim to be.  I'm not sure that he thinks the world is flat - but he continually insists - to anyone who may listen, that Mandie Eddie is not my name.  And claiming to to know exactly how one must change their name, he insists that he has evidence that I have never changed my name legally.

​(Hmmm... I would like to see the evidence) 

He has blogged about it - accused lawyers of not properly identifying me, told several judges that I am not Mandie Eddie and even insisted that he has evidence that I am not who I claim to be.  

Unfortunately, repeating something over and over does not necessarily make it true.  It may make the person repeating it believe it is true - but simply repeating something that has no basis in fact - cannot change the 'fact'.  

Sticks and stones may break my bones - but your continual insistence that my name is not my name WILL hurt you!  

So let me set the record straight.  For the Bully.. I would draw a diagram - but I am not sure that would help. (chuckle)

As many women can attest to - when we marry - we often assume our husband's name - as I did.  To do this - we simply show our marriage certificate at Service Ontario (If we live in Ontario) and we can have our driver's license and health card changed to our husband's name.  We can ASSUME his surname.

In Quebec - the laws are somewhat different - in that if you want to assume your husband's surname - you must keep your own and then hyphenate your maiden name to the surname of your husband to do this.  In Quebec - I would have been Mandie Eddie-Crawford.  However - I live in Ontario.  And so when I married my husband - I assumed his surname, legally.  I did not legally change my name on my birth certificate.  I had no need to.  I never changed my S.I.N. I had no need to.  Legally I was still Mandie Eddie - "also known as" - Mandie Crawford.

In Ontario, when you become divorced or you chose not to continue to have the surname of your spouse, you can easily revert to your maiden name.  A quick visit to Service Ontario with your birth certificate, your SIN, your marriage certificate and if needed, a divorce certificate will allow you to change your documents to revert to your maiden name - the name you were born with.  With a single form you can revert to your maiden name - the name you were born with, the name that is on your birth certificate.  And similarly, with a trip to a Service Canada site - you can also ensure that your passport has your maiden name on it.  And yes with one form - after producing the proper documents.

There is no need to go through a legal name change process. This is legal - and quite a normal procedure in Ontario.

And on June 5th and 6th, 2017, this is what I did.  I attended a Service Ontario office and presented the required documents, filled in the correct forms and reverted to my maiden name.  The important people in my life knew why.  The "why", really was no one elses' business.

So yes, despite what any bully may say - my name is legally Mandie Eddie.  Never have I legally changed it on my birth certificate to be anything other than EDDIE.  So there has never been any need to to file for an official name change - nor would it have been reported by "The Gazette" or as some say the name change was not "Gazetted".  And yes, I do understand what it means to be listed in "The Gazette"

Interestingly enough - I was once "Gazetted" as a Breathalyzer Technician in Ontario in 1998 - I believe.  (it may have been later - but that is what I recall)

What is the Gazette?

The Canada Gazette is the official newspaper of the Government of Canada. Learn about new statutes, new and proposed regulations, administrative board decisions and public notices.  

So to the Bully who insists I am not who I say I am - it's time for you to learn that the world does not always work they way YOU think it works. 

And - oh yeah - in case you wondered, no, the world is not flat.

Mandie Eddie (always - and from the beginning!)