Legalized Friendships Grant Family-Style Rights

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eastermetz of KY 12:30PM July 05, 2009

As people become more mobile, spouses change partners and have fewer children, family circle tends to disintegrate. It used to be that family consisted not only of parents and children but also of cousins, grandparents, and grandchildren. Instead of extended family we now have a circle of friends - people not related by blood who are nevertheless very close to us and participate in our daily life, like a family member would a few generations ago.
Alas, but it's hard to explain to school, airline, hospital, employer that these people should have access to us and our kids if we are sick, in trouble or missing, and to call them if an emergency arises. We should be able to give a list of "close persons" to a service provider, so that these people are granted all the privileges traditionally reserved for families.

jane of CA 4:04PM June 18, 2008

Hi Bonnie, It seems to be in style these days to get "Married" wether you need it or not....if very good friends want to share their wealth and property etc they can go into a legal partnership and not have to get married..... marriage and childbirth have gone together for a very long time and will definitely stay that way untill mother nature decides that two separate sexes are not necessary anymore, ......as for what "Scholars" are saying, there was a very prominent thinker and philosopher called Bertrand Russell who had a few things to say about marriage and hesaid very clearly that unless you had a great urge to bring children into this world it is not necessary to get married...........cordially .......Steve

Steve Roisman of CA 6:47PM June 17, 2008