Significant Others

Don’t you just love to hate the term “significant other”? Code for what exactly? I suppose if you go back to the dark ages of the 70’s and early 80’s this was a person with whom you were probably “living in sin” or close to it but didn’t qualify for the appellation husband or wife. In those days the majority assumption was that the “other” was indeed the other sex from yours. Gays also used the term to indicate a solid relationship and for many the assumption of “other” obscured the sex of the partner. The term sort of settled into meaning anyone someone was committed to in a relationship and marrieds used it to indicate their spouse.
I have never been comfortable with the limitations of the above. To me, significant others are all sorts of people that are a significant part of a life. Siblings, cousins, best friends. Not the milkman (OK Barbara: Milk person) or bag person at the grocery store though. Not close enough.
Then on the scene comes the term “life partner”, used mostly by Gays that have been denied the right of Marriage. I like the term “partner” more than spouse, though. Partnership carries with it a demonstrable sharing of responsibilities and resources whereas spouseship is a vague and slippery condition. I like the sound of “partner”, and having a life partner is a wonderful thing. Having a wife or husband that is also a partner and best friend is just plain wonderful. And this combination should be available to everybody.
Today the terms for someone that shares your life on a more or less permanent basis are numerous and somewhat fluid, but all convey a kind of permanence. Although it is easy enough to do-si-do your way through life changing partners with every dance, I see this as a road with a gloomy and lonely end.
So grab your partner and get out on the floor of life and dance until dawn. Then dance until dusk. (For an additional treat go to the link below and read about the DIY parade and look at all the photos. Life as it should be.)
Image: www.indybay.org/newsitems/2008/01/04/18470067.php