My brother took my grandparents' last name because they raised us. Here's why I didn't do the same.

Courtesy Nicole Johnson

• My brother and I were raised by our grandparents, who had a different last name than we did.
• When he decided he wanted to change his last name to theirs, I didn't understand at first. 
• I wanted to keep the connection we had to our parents.

It was 1987, though I still remember it like it was yesterday. The chair didn't fly across the room, which was my intention, but merely...