Hospital Experiences
By Nancy & Joan VanReece of Madison, Tenn.
We have been together for 18 years.
On our 10th anniversary we decided it was past time to get as much paperwork done as was available — the health care power of attorney, the living wills, the wills, etc. About two years after that, one of us ended up in a hospital and the other had to carry papers around and was asked to show them each night to regain the permission to stay.
On our 15th anniversary, we decided to combine our last names and went through the process of standing in front of a judge, standing in line at the Social Security office for new cards, going through the process at our jobs, etc. It was a strange way to celebrate.
However, just recently when one of us had to go into the hospital for a couple of days, having the same last name did help — although they thought she was my sister.
There is a law on the books in Tennessee that keeps us from having a civil marriage. The Federal Marriage Amendment would write discrimination into the Constitution. This is just unfortunate hate speech.
June 15, 2006