For a long time my partner and I have known that our futures would be intertwined.  About a year ago, the conversation began to shift from both of us dreaming of law school to each of us taking active steps towards attending law school.  As our conversation moved from dreaming to paying for it (and the sticker shock that is private and public law schools in this country), we began toying with the idea of making our relationship legitimate (read: legal).  We figured that if we had legal standing as a partnership, both being in law school, our potential loan cap could increase.  Romantic, no?

We began to discuss seriously how legalizing our union would change our lives; how we would have some legal protections for our relationship and a responsibility to care for each other, would always be able to visit each other in the hospital and have power of attorney over each other, and could take family and medical leave to care for each other.  We talked about traveling together, and how the US embassy would see us differently if we traveled together as legal partners.
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