I got tears in my eyes reading that. It is so sad they were never married. I was watching a tv show the other day talking about how inter racial marriage used to be illegal. I am grateful that people before me opened the door, so I could marry the love of my life. People who tell others who to love or who to marry really get on my nerves. Love is blind! My sister lives in Arizona, so she and her girlfriend are not married yet either. They just celebrated 15 years together on 06/15 and are waiting until they can get married in their home state. My husband's sister (who lives here and will also raise my kids should anything happen to me and Crap) married her wife in California on 07/31/2008. Their marriage is not honored here (yet), so they pay a fortune in extra taxes for ins and other things. They went to church together as kids and reconnected as adults. It is a really sweet love story. They've been together almost as long as Crap and I have been (we're at almost 17.5 as we were together for about 7.5 when we got married).
They did the same thing at my wedding. My husband's grandparents (who are still adorable together after all these years) won. At our wedding, they were weeks shy of 52 years. Now, they are 1.5 months shy of 62. He had a stroke a little over two years ago. Prior to that, he still always opened doors for her, grabbed her arm when they walked and complimented her constantly.
My sister and her girlfriend are the best parents I know, but we chose my husband's sister and her wife because my kids know them better since they live here. They also are great with kids even though they do not have any of their own. The most important reason is because I know they will love my kids and do their best to raise them like we want. I want open minded kids who always speak their mind, strive to learn, show respect, etc. They need boundaries but I do not want to crush spirits and want them to be who they are. It really takes balance. I am still working on it everyday. We also asked them and they were happy to agree.