Unless Kim Deal is standing behind me, there is no "Kim D" here

I knew it would happen someday. Today I was called "Kim D" for the first time.

At the Bikram studio, when there are multiple people with the same name, they refer to people by their first name and last initial. I don't know if it's because she's new or if it's because I'm not normally at the Friday morning class, but this was the first time I've practiced with another Kim. So I was "Kim D."

I have been "Kim Z" for so long the combination feels like my first name. To closer friends I have been "Kimmy Z" as well. (Never just "Kimmy." Never. Ever.) Even since I've gotten married I am still Kim Z to a lot of people. It is my attachment to my zed that inspired me to use it as my middle initial when I changed my name. I remain Kim Z.

But at the Bikram studio they've only known me since I've been married. They naively think of my initial as being the first letter of my last name. They don't know how foreign that sounds to me.

I'm sure I'll have to be Kim D again sometime. Probably at the yoga studio but in other places as well. Perhaps I'll get used to it, but it won't change the fact that I am now, and always will be, Kim Z.