The Castle Legacy

Yes, the last name is a nod to Disney, and yes it’s really my name.

If you care to know more of the why:

As a kid I had dreamed about going to Disney World, just something you think about as a kid. A lot of those 90’s sitcoms went during an episode. Some of the Disney VHS’s had little advertisements for the park. I knew it wasn’t something that would ever happen but your daydreams have to be filled with something right? My favorite Disney movie as a child was The Little Mermaid. Most of the TV I saw was at other peoples houses. We rarely had a TV let alone cable or VHS’s. It’s hard to keep much of anything when you move as much as we did.

I became a mom at the age of 15. Such foolishness as Disney World was long forgotten. I still loved Disney movies and shared a lot of them with my children in the future.

The first time I went to Disney World I was 28 years old. It was for my honeymoon with Standish.

It was the first time in my life I ever felt like a kid, and it was OK that I was an adult acting like a kid. It is actually encouraged there.

In one of the hardest and darkest times in my life, I chose to start my own legacy.

I had learned in school that when you file for divorce, it includes a name change.

I could have gone back to my maiden name: My fathers name that he gave me, and only me out of the 4 of us. That was pretty much all he gave us.

I could have gone back to my first married name. After all it was the last name of all 3 of my children.

I could have asked to keep Standish’s last name.

All of those men hurt me. Made me feel small. Broke me.

Fuck them. I was starting my own legacy.

The day I got divorced I took my power back from a man who made me believe I was powerless. When the judge asked what I wanted my name to be after the divorce, while my ex cried crocodile tears, I said in a shaky but determined voice that I planned to be Shannon Marie Castle. I promised myself that day that I was not going to tolerate disrespect in my life anymore.

I am worthy of respect.