Getting our Pennsylvania Real IDs was a real trying experience for my husband and I.

Beginning next month, residents of Pennsylvania will need a Real ID compliant license, identification card or an acceptable alternative identification such as a passport to board domestic commercial flights, enter a federal building or a military installation.

For proof of identity, we needed an original certified copy of our birth certificate or a valid passport; proof of Social Security number, with full name and all nine digits; two proofs of current address; and proof of all legal name changes.

We are in our mid-70s, retired and living off Social Security, have been married for 53 years and have lived at the same address for as long. So, I figured, how hard can this be?

Well, for us it took three visits to the PennDOT driver’s license center.

The greeter at the DMV turned us away the first time because my husband only had a stub of his Social Security card, not the full card (well, he has had that since he was 16). My husband showed the greeter his Veterans Health Identification Card with his picture, and we were told that was not a legal ID.

He then proceeded to look through my paperwork. He asked if I had changed my name. I said no, he then asked, “Are you married, and did you change your name?” Opps, chock that up to COVID brain fog. I needed a copy of our wedding certificate.

The next week we drove 30 miles to get to the nearest Social Security office to apply for a new card for my husband.

Meanwhile, I go through our strong box at home and find an embossed copy of our wedding certificate.

The following Friday we arrived, confident again to get our Real IDs. My husband goes first.

As the clerk is looking through my husband’s paperwork, he sees that his birth certificate name does not have a middle name, and the rest of the paperwork has a middle name. My husband even showed his DD214 from the service, which has a middle name that he has always used. (It got him into the service to fight for our country, but now 50 years later he can’t get a Real ID?) As my husband is putting all his paperwork back in his folder, the clerk sees his Veterans Health Identification Card and tells him that he doesn’t need a Pennsylvania Real ID because his VHIC is an acceptable form of ID.

Bad news: I wish the first greeter would have known that. It would have saved us time and sanity. But the good news was it didn’t cost a thing, and Joe had his identification to fly.

When it was my turn, I was told that my embossed marriage certificate was not good since it came from our church, not from Carbon County. I was turned away and had to go to the county courthouse to get an embossed copy of our marriage license.

So, yes, we came back to the DMV center for the third time, and thankfully I had all the correct paperwork. I now have a gold star on my driver’s license to prove it.

Three times was a charm, and we have our proper identification to show for it.

Mary Tobia is an occasional writer for the Times News. Reach her at tneditor@tnonline.com