"Today, about one-half of all adults are unmarried. Many of them are in other kinds of significant relationships, yet the law offers them few protections. Although a few states have created nonmarital relationship statuses, they fall far short of the kind of comprehensive structures needed to recognize and protect. John Culhane offers a comprehensive approach to satisfying the needs of this vast population of unmarried adults. Using a narrative approach that resulted from in-depth interviews, he gives voice to the many couples inadequately served by existing law. Their stories provide living evidence of the need for the law to extend its reach to those who are inadequately protected-or not protected at all"--

This adventure is set in the middle of life. While not sure how they will do it, five witty, educated, fun-loving, and sometimes confused young women battle for a place in this world. While dealing with life on lifes termswith death, sadness, remorse, and love beating at their front doorsthey somehow manage to keep God as a beacon of light.

Annette Nauraine brings readers an emotional, funny, and heartfelt story that explores a mother’s fears as she struggles to let her children go while facing her own fear of falling in love. Olivia Maxwell is afraid of everything, including kittens. Determined to be a good mom, she does whatever it takes to keep her children safe. Eighteen years ago, her husband died, so she knows life can go up in smoke if you’re not careful.As a result, she’s tried to anticipate every imaginable risk, warning her children about the dangers of food past its due date, kidnapping, bubonic plague, and planes crashing into the house.Despite her pleas, her son drops out of college for a career guaranteed to put him in danger. Struggling to be allowed to grow, he pushes against all of Olivia’s boundaries, even insisting his older sister, who has Down, should be allowed to experience love.Can Olivia conquer her fears and let her children grow? Or is her reluctance to let them go about protecting them or herself? When an interfering fireman sets Olivia’s menopausal desires aflame, will she risk falling in love?Olivia’s friends in the Marriage Survivors Club remind her that living a full life means embracing love and letting go. After all, it’s never too late to grow.

"At its core, the freedom-to-marry movement is about the same thing every civil rights struggle has been about: taking seriously our country's promise to be a nation its citizens can make better, its promise to be a place where people don't have to give up their differences or hide them in order to be treated equally." Why Marriage Matters offers a compelling, intelligently reasoned discussion of a question that still remains in the national consciousness. It is the work of one of the most influential attorneys in America, who has dedicated his life to the protection of individuals' rights and our Constitution's commitment to equal justice under the law. Above all, it is a clear, straightforward book that brings into sharp focus the very human significance of the right to marry in America—not just for some couples, but for all. Why is the word marriage so important? Will marriage for same-sex couples hurt the "sanctity" of the institution? How can people of different faiths reconcile their beliefs with the idea of marriage for same-sex couples? How will allowing gay couples to marry affect children? In this quietly powerful volume, the most authoritative and fairly articulated book on the subject, Wolfson demonstrates why the right to marry is important—indeed necessary—for all couples and for America's promise of equality.