[Maryjane]

sigh...I've been avoiding this subject hoping I could get my point across without it but I guess that's not going to happen...

I'll give you a few examples how it is not fair. Let's take death for example. Most of us expect to live happily ever after like the fairy tale says. WRONG! Doesn't happen that way. "Ever after" sometimes comes a lot sooner than you think, like it or not. It's the old "God's plan" in action. (or so I'm told)


From my own personal experience and the widow/ers I've talked to (over 5,000) if feel quite comfortable saying that most couples gay or straight die without estate planning or life insurance. I will go further to say, that if they die young or sudden/ without warning they are less likely to have made preperations than someone who dies of disease or old age.

We could take a poll of the membership at Volconvo if doubt my opinion?

That said, let's talk about what happens in the hospital. Say your loved one is in a coma. Someone has to speak for them when they can not. Someone has to decide what medical treatments will be allowed. Someone has to decide if it's time to pull the plug, should that decision need to be made.

Without doccumentation stating otherwise, that person is the next of kin. So even though you have been with this person for 20 years in a loving committed relationship and they have made their wishes known to you, you are not the one that gets to make them. All because of a little piece of paper.

As a STRAIGHT couple, the spouse can and does make those decisions. In states that recognize common law marriages, you don't even need doccumentation.

So my question to you, how is that fair? Do you see the reason now? Or shall I go on? Because I'm far from done ....we haven't gotten to the actual death yet.