Alexandra Hayden Hernandez

So this weekend is a very special Pride with gay marriage back on the books for California and a glimmer of hope for the entire USA in the years to come.  I’m having a big birthday (I find the fives are the hardest) on Tuesday, followed by a very long vacation that I’m getting very excited about to Vancouver BC (so my first time in Canada), Seattle, Iceland, London, Paris, Barcelona, Roma and Calabria, and maybe Germany and a few other European cities before returning in August for a long Lazybear Weekend in Guerneville.  Did a lot of research on Iceland (which has a lesbian prime minister) today and I’m excited about being in 24 hours of light and seeing all of the “unearthly” things that environment has to show me.

All that and my daughter recently getting married and taking a honeymoon to Maui makes this one of the most monumental summers of my life.

Taken in San Joaquin Miller Park in Oakland, California.

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As much as a Francophile as I am, I’m very glad that my daughter will no longer be Monique.  She is changing her middle name to Hayden when she becomes Mrs. Hernandez next month.  I think it will flow nicely and what’s fortunate is that she is one of the few women who can probably have a middle name that is suitable as a common name for a woman (and a man).  Think of Hayden Panettiere, the actress and dolphin activist.  She was very sweet when she brought the subject up because she knows that my niece’s middle name is Hayden, something my sister Sabina did when we feared there would be no more Haydens in our line, but now I have a nephew to rectify that.  Alex is also considering giving her kids the middle name Hayden, which fortunately does work for both genders.  Monique was just something I thought sounded nice, but Hayden is something more special and personal.  I do wish there was some indication that she was Italian in there, but her name is already going to be a mouthful.