Tasman-The Story of Our Name
Michael and I met when we were both in our mid thirties. We were introduced by friends, and shortly after that we were dating and having a great time together. I had previously scheduled a long, much needed, vacation to New Zealand and Australia to visit family. I hated the thought of finally meeting someone I really liked, and then going away for over a month, so I asked him to come with me. He said, yes, he would come for part of the trip, I did the happy dance, and we left on an adventure together after knowing each other a short six weeks.
Luckily for us, we found that we travel well together and we had a blast in New Zealand and on the Great Barrier Reef in Queensland Australia. When I came home we picked up where we left off, and started skiing, snowboarding, rock climbing, hiking, and having fun in the pacific northwest. At month five, after giving me five peach roses, he asked me to marry him, and I said "yes"! |
As we were planning our wedding he said, I've been married twice, let's think of something creative for our last name. We talked about hyphenating...too long and we would have had to spell both of our last names. We talked about combining our last names, but the results were awful sounding. I suggested we make up something new...thinking he would probably never go for something so unusual. Michael said, yes, what kind of name would you choose? In the same moment, we both thought about our visit to New Zealand and we both said, Paihia (pronounced Pie - hee- ah), and then immediately thought, NO, spelling AND pronunciation are difficult. How about Tasman. which is where we had backpacked and camped on 99-mile beach where the Tasman Sea and the Pacific Ocean meet. Yes! that was it! And so here it is 18 years later and I am just as thrilled to be married to him as I was then. |