How Jim Obergefell's love affair changed marriage forever. John wasn't in love with his consulting job in technology, but his job had fuelled his passions. He had grown into something of a local tastemaker and filled his life with whimsical, interesting things, fabric and furniture, clothing and paintings. Saturdays with John were grand adventures, a long brunch, a lazy walk, a hunt through the dusty aisles of an antique shop, where John, from the corners of his mouth, would issue a running, witty commentary on his interesting finds. Lonely people moved him, perhaps because they reminded John of how different he felt as a boy, and more than once he touched his friends by inviting strangers sitting alone at bars to join them for drinks or dinner. Year after year, John brought new people into his social fold. He never shared particularly personal stories about himself, but he was a perceptive listener who could critique without judging, and friends often left his company feeling understood. Photo: The Cincinnati Enquirer. Still, the smallest thing could fluster him: a glance from a co- worker, a comment from a store clerk. On the last night of a trip to Paris in 1. Jim stumbled as he tried to ask a waiter in French for a glass of red wine. Je voudrais .. Two decades later, a medical diagnosis would tear their world apart. He walked out to the street and made funny faces through the brasserie's glass windows until the beginnings of a smile crept across John's face. Photo: Marco Grob. It came as no surprise to John's friends when he shrugged off a strange sensation in his left foot in the winter of 2. At a Cincinnati bar one night, Jim watched quietly as John limped toward the bathroom. Their friend Jennifer Stowe, who had travelled with John and Jim to Paris, wondered whether John had suffered a mild stroke. John's left leg was slapping against the ground, as if bound by a heavy weight. The sound was deafening. Then he had trouble swinging his legs out of their Volkswagen hatchback. Photo: Melissa Golden/Redux/Headpress. As the slapping grew louder, Jim trolled the Internet late into the night, reading about pinched nerves and lead poisoning and muscular dystrophy. One was worse than the other, but nothing was as frightening as a disease called ALS, a fatal neurological disorder that attacks the nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord. Winter 2. 01. 1: Jim paced the kitchen, the bedroom, the living room, frowning at the white brick walls. He passed their painting of Tunisian kilns, the marble- topped coffee table that had once belonged to John's grandmother. He looked at the clock. He answered an email from work. Let it be okay. Any moment now, John would come home from the neurologist with a final diagnosis, something that explained the heaviness in his left foot, which lately had been creeping higher, into his calf and thigh. One doctor had mentioned the possibility of ALS, which most often starts with weakening in a single limb, but other diseases can produce the same symptoms, and John wanted a second opinion. Hours earlier, he had dressed for the appointment, choosing a gray T- shirt with a picture of a drinking glass that said half full. Jim watched from the doorway. But John was about to find out whether he would live or die and Jim couldn't think of a more personal moment. John would process the news on his own quiet terms, without emotion or drama. Jim walked John to the door and said, . But John's cheeks were wet and his shoulders were slumped. Jim leapt from his stool in the kitchen and under the foyer's stained- glass window, he gripped John by the arms. Let it be okay. John opted for simplicity. How much time did John have? How quickly would his body fail him? John rarely cried, but his shoulders were heaving as he clung to Jim. Most people diagnosed with ALS live for three to five years, he'd explained gently. There would be progressive muscle weakness, cramps, twitches, and slurred speech. Eventually, when John's breathing muscles weakened, he would need a ventilator. Paulette Roberts, John's favourite aunt, called from Portland, where she was vacationing along the Columbia River. Jim winced when he saw her cell- phone number on his caller ID. There's no way you could have told me any better. John and Jim had figured they would spend years here, in cosy corners filled with oriental rugs and antique furniture, perfect for a couple edging toward 5. But John would need hallways wide enough for a wheelchair and windows big enough to let in the sun when he was no longer able to walk outside. Rainy Love Affair lyrics - ARABESQUE. Some people say the sun must shine On rainy days they don't feel fine But I don't mind, 'cause you are by my side Autumn breeze - winter storm. 50 quotes have been tagged as love-affair: Jamie Weise: . Love Affair Songs List Overview Songs Similar Artists CDs The Best of the Good Times (CD) Released in 2007 $ 9.56 Super Savings List Price: $10.99. The End of the Affair is a 1999 drama film directed by Neil Jordan and starring Ralph Fiennes, Julianne Moore and Stephen Rea. On a rainy London night in 1946, Bendrix has a chance meeting with Henry Miles (Stephen Rea), husband of his former mistress.
In September 2. 01. Cincinnati's famed Fountain Square. They had bought three homes together over 2. Jim signed the deed alone. He tried not to cringe when John said firmly, . John started wearing a leg brace and a metal plate in his shoe to control what doctors called . Jim started coaxing John's twitching arms into a dress shirt every morning before work. When John could no longer clasp the buttons, Jim took him to a tailor and had shirts made with Velcro. In the early, grey months of 2. I Love A Rainy Night lyrics by Eddie Rabbitt: Well I love a rainy night / I love a rainy night / I love to hear the thunder / Watch the No new notifications View all notifications. John's right foot started to drop and he traded the cane for a walker. There was no way to know what ALS would take next and there was no way to fight, no treatment to test. The human brain has 1. ALS kills the largest of the body's nerve cells, the upper and lower motor neurons, and science has never been able to say why. John had the metal fillings in his teeth replaced when he heard that metal might hasten the progression of the disease. He bought exotic mineral supplements and stopped eating gluten. But it seemed to Jim as if the disease was progressing far faster than he had imagined, and on the darkest days, when John struggled to hold a fork or brush his hair, Jim would sneak into an empty room, bury his face in his hands, and cry. Time had been tilted on its side. When John could no longer grip a pen, Jim filled out the disability paperwork which would give him leave of absence from his job as a project manager with a consulting company. As an unmarried man, Jim didn't qualify for family medical leave. Years earlier, they had talked about marriage, particularly after Paulette called on John's 4. John and Jim thought, why bother? They considered their relationship the focal point of their world. Home > Music Score Catalog > I Love A Rainy Night ITEM INFO I Love A Rainy Night by Even Stevens for piano solo. About Stevens - I Love A Rainy Night sheet music for piano solo: Digital sheet music for piano NOTE: chords indications, lyrics may be.And they already felt married. They had bought houses, planned trips, saved for retirement. They had talked about adopting a child, but dropped the idea when they learned that Ohio wouldn't recognize two fathers. Jim started lifting John into bed, onto the couch, into the car. He had grab bars installed in the shower, and when John could no longer stand on his own, Jim went out and bought a shower seat. Eventually, Jim stripped down and got into the shower himself to hold John steady. The last limb to go was John's right arm, and with it came a power wheelchair that John's brother, Curtis, quickly dubbed the . John hated the chair's bulk and the embarrassing hum it would make, and he told Jim just before Christmas in 2. I feel like a spectacle. He slept in the guest room but had a wireless doorbell set up next to John's hospital bed so he could ring for help in the night when he needed his position shifted. Soon, Jim knew, John would no longer be able to push the bell, and they would swap it for a pressure- sensitive pad that buzzed when John inched his head slightly to the right. Jim hurried to the bedroom, where John was propped up under a blanket. On television, MSNBC's Chris Jansing said, . Nine justices will rule on two cases that could redefine equality and gay rights in this country. For weeks, they had been waiting to find out whether the Supreme Court would strike down the 1. Defense of Marriage Act, known as DOMA. John and Jim had been a couple for just four years when the law passed, denying same- sex spouses access to federal marriage benefits. DOMA also allowed states to refuse to recognize same- sex marriages even if they were legally performed in other states, a provision that one day would alter the course of Jim's life long after John was gone. If the Supreme Court required the federal government to respect the lawful marriages of same- sex couples equally under the Constitution, it would be the biggest victory in the 9. America's gay rights movement so far. In the bedroom, Jim glanced at John, who was watching the broadcast intently, his dark glasses perched on the end of his nose. It was a bright, 9. Washington, D. C., and before the U. S. Supreme Court's towering Corinthian columns, flag poles and fountains, kissing couples waved American flags and signs that read, all love is equal. NBC's Pete Williams announced over the cheers, . The broadcast continued, . At 1. 0. 5. 6am, less than one hour after the Supreme Court announcement, he emailed Paulette Roberts: We may need your services. As soon as the Supreme Court ruled DOMA unconstitutional, I hugged John and asked him to marry me. That means getting to the closest state that allows gay marriage but doesn't require residency. Can you marry people in New York? Suddenly impatient, Jim decided to call. Two years earlier, New York had become the seventh state in the country to allow gay couples to marry. When the legislation passed, Niagara Falls was lit in rainbow colours. The problem, Jim quickly learned, was that New York required both partners to show up at the courthouse and apply for a marriage license, then return for the ceremony. John's last trip out of the house four months earlier had caused great discomfort, and that was only a three- mile trek across town in their minivan. Jim had to find another way. He scrambled to research the rules in other states and immediately settled on Maryland, which required only one person to appear at the courthouse for a marriage license. Jim would fly alone to Baltimore, rent a car, and then drive to nearby Annapolis, sprawled along the Chesapeake Bay 3. Washington, D. C. But he still had to get John to Maryland for the ceremony.
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