Where is Rio Running?

Thought I would offer a little explanation for Running Rio. Rio is my family name (hate to say maiden name - maiden only seems to remind me of Robin Hood or a really, really loud heavy metal band). Rio is actually French, however close enough to Spanish that it still means River. Yes, rivers do run - and as do most women in my shoes - I am running all the time. Run to work, run to the kids' school, run to the grocery store (can I make it there 4 times this week, or only 3?), run through the house trying to clean, etc., etc.

My last name has actually been hyphenated with my husband's these past 16 and 1/2 years - boy is that another story. My husband, who was the 3rd in the line of male names in his family, told me that he could never hyphenate while his father was alive. The clear implication was that he did not want to offend his dad (and I would not have wanted him to do so), but the dear man did join my husband's long departed mom a number of years ago - and the hyphen never came. It finally came out that darling Andy never had any intention of hyphenating - it was just an excuse to put me off the subject (hoping I would forget, I am sure). When I'm doing marriage counseling, I always tell the young women to do exactly what they want with their name, because they might find themselves complaining about it over 16 years later on the internet!

People in high school, and even college, used to call me Rio all the time. Of course, Duran Duran was quite the band then - and if they were singing about an incredibly sexy, alluring woman named Rio - I was not one to complain and insist on being called by my given name.

I still like being called Rio - even though no one really does it any more. It's more like Mom!, sweetie, preacher, or Amy. But you can call me Rio...