SWR: I just got the sweetest e-mail! (Semi-long)

I never post personal issues, but this is too good not to share.

A little background: My fiance's great aunt Evelyn (his mother's mother's sister) is a lesbian. It's one of those things that is just not spoken about in his family but is known. Nobody has a problem with it, but it's sort of a 'taboo' thing to talk about it She and her partner have been together for well over thirty years and are such a beautiful example of what a loving relationship is -I truly admire them.

They give separate gifts to the family for holidays, they send out separate Christmas cards, and the rest of the family gives them separate gifts, cards, invitations, etc. Joann (the partner) is not referred to as 'aunt' by anyone, but I started calling her that when I started calling Evelyn 'aunt.'

I decided to not follow what everybody else in the family does and I sent them a single invitation to my wedding with both of their names on it. At my shower, Joann took me aside and thanked me for sending the invitation - and I know she was thanking me for acknowledging her.

So, they gave me shower gifts with a card signed by the both of them - a family first! I took a beautiful picture of them at my shower (yes, I did bring my camera to my own shower ) and I later e-mailed it to Evelyn and wrote for the subject of the e-mail 'the beautiful couple.'

Well, I just received the most beautiful e-mail from my fiance's great aunt's partner. She wrote to thank me 'from the bottom of [her] heart for everything -the invitation, the [shower] thank-you, and the photo' and proceeded to tell me how much my 'gestures' meant to her, and signed it 'Love, Aunt Joann.'

I feel so good that I could make them feel special. I just had to share it with you ladies.

That's sooooooo wonderful!

thats so incredibly sweet! good for you.. and them!

That's great. Congrats to not doing what the rest of the family has been doing and acknowledging her as a member of the family. Obviously it means a great deal to her and hopefully your actions will inspire the rest of the family to accept her out in the open.

This is such a wonderful gesture that you have done, I admire you so much for this, as this is something I would do also, thankfuly both my family and FH's family have homosexual family members and both fully aknowledge and respect their relationships. His family even had a wedding for the couple, 2 girls, and i cried it was so beautiful. Hearing your story makes me sooo happy!!!

Now that was just such a beautiful thing you did!!!!
She must have been so thrilled!!!

aww....so sweet!!! Kudos to you for making her feel welcome....and not following what the rest of the family does!

sadly--it's probably the first time in 30 yrs that ANYONE has made them feel that way, and something so simple as the gestures you did....is something they will never forget.

i think being accepted is something that we take for granted! how often do we see on this site how much it bothers someone when a wedding invite comes or party invitation that doesn't include us or our FH's!!! can you imagine having that feeling for 30 YEARS????

good for you!

Your post is a great reminder of how sometimes the most simple gesture can have so much meaning to others!

Your attitude is totally refreshing! Its nice to know that on a wedding board that we can appreciate all types of love! I think you did a great thing to make someone feel accepted for who they truly are!

Those were such sweet and loving gestures!! Good for you for standing up and being the first to recognize their relationship!!

My aunt is a Lesbian too and the same thing is going on with the family and her except she is only 32 years old, but they have been together for over 11 years. I like Claudia, her partner. I think what you did was great and very sweet! My FH kissed Claudia hello and goodbye when they first met and I was so happy with that...I am sure your FH appreciated it too

You are so sweet. What a beautiful thing you did to acknowledge their relationship.