I Am Now a Kentuckian

Now that I am a Kentuckian and have my KY license, I wanted to share the foolishness I have gone through to become a Kentuckian. I have had a driver’s license since 1975 (New Mexico) and I got my Texas Drivers license in 1979 when I moved to Houston to go to college, and because, ah hell, there was a boy there I liked who I foolishly thought liked me back (he did say the “l” word first) Anyway, I was 19 and foolish. But the point is, I have had a Texas license off and on since 1979, same license number and everything. I got married in Texas in 1982 (different boy) I had my license changed to reflect my married name. I divorced this man-child in 1999 (in Texas) and took my maiden name back. It was in the divorce decree. A Divorce granted in TEXAS. Sooooo….. when I went to renew my license in Texas in 2014, I was told that in the records, my DL number was in my OLD married name (15 years after my divorce). I stated, you changed it back in 1999 due to my divorce. I showed them my old Texas license with my MAIDEN name, and they stated, “well, we had a computer crash in the early 2000’s and lost a lot the records.” So they wanted a certified copy of my divorce decree GRANTED IN TEXAS. That was going to take weeks, So I opted to renew my DL in Texas in 2014 with my old married name which I had not used for 15 years because I needed to renew and did not have time to go get a certified copy of my divorce in Dallas which they said I had to have before they could change my name. So I’ve been living with my OLD married name since 2014 on my DL (I should have gone and changed it, but the whole process of dealing with these people gives me anxiety). My passport is correct, my social security is correct, everything was copacetic except my Texas DL.

So I knew I needed to renew my driver’s license this month because my Texas DL was expiring. I tried to renew for a Texas license online, but they said I didn’t qualify to do that. I called and asked “why?” They said, because you’ve only had a Texas license since 2014. Mind you, my Texas license had my ORIGINAL Texas drivers license from 1979. I pointed that out, and they got indignant, and replied, “that’s not what our records state.” They then told me that I would have to make an appointment to come in and renew my license in person, and I thought “Okay, Julie, don’t fight this battle.” I went online to make an appointment. This is May 2023, my license expired on my birthday, and I was informed that to renew a license in person, in Plano, Texas that the earliest in appointment was in September 2023. (Yeah, September 2023 (four months from now). I was going to have to drive illegally for four months (remember I live in a vehicle. Driver’s license is important). I checked other towns around Plano – Carrollton (earliest was August 2023), Garland (earliest was October 2023, Dallas (earliest was September 2023 also). So I am freaking out.

I have a street mailing address here in KY with a mailbox (and that in itself was a clear example of divine intervention) but for me to get a DL in KY, I had to have my SSN card, a piece of mail, electric bill, bank statement, passport or birth certificate BUT ON ALL DOCUMENTS, THE NAME HAD TO MATCH UP or I had to provide a certified court order that my name had changed.

I dug up my divorce decree (certified, I got one after the last debacle) but as I was looking through it, I could not find where my name change showed up. I really had not looked at the thing in detail since 1999. I totally freaked out. I thought maybe it was an addendum like our financial records were. I called Dallas County where divorce occurred and asked if they could look up my name change paperwork which I obviously had had because I sent it in the SSN and Department of State for my passport back in 1999 and those documents all had my maiden name. The young man said he’d look it up but it would take a week. That was to be expected.

This is where Jesus came in. The young man from Dallas called me back, and says, “Ms. Wehmeyer, look on page 10 of your decree.” And there it was at the top of the page, “my name change” signed off by the Judge.”

So I got all my paperwork together including my US citizenship papers, Record of Birth Abroad of a US citizen (I was born in the UK thanks to Uncle Sam and the Air Force) and went to the KY DMV (where I was able to book an appointment this past Monday for today. NOT FOUR MONTHS FROM NOW. I got there, they looked at my paperwork, and said, “oh your passport and social have your current name on it, we don’t need your divorce decree.” I kid you not.

I paid my fees for 8 years. The super nice girl who took me the DMV took me to “Liquor Barn” and I have two bottles of Pinot Grigio now.

ANYWAY, I am now a Kentuckian with a Kentucky voting card, and I can now vote against that nasty Mitch McConnell and Rand Paul. I have been here legally for 30 days, and I have an address here. I was only going to renew in Texas to give me some time to get stuff sorted. So now I am legal schmegal – a resident of Appalachia.

Damn, near had a stroke though. For some reason, the good Lord wants me here.

- Julie O'Hara 2023

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