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This straight up happened in my family too
(lemmy.world)
Have an aunt who has only ever lived with women. I was always told it was her roommate. Everyone refers to her as a roommate. They BOUGHT THE HOUSE TOGETHER. Have dogs together. Raise the other ones kids together.
When I was like 17, and openly gay, I straight up asked my grandmother if her sister was a lesbian. She said no they're just roommates and got super specific about it. I asked my aunt a couple weeks later when I saw her and she went "Well, yeah. Do I not wear enough flannel?"
My grandmother was very much a catch, but there’s no way I have a picture of her friend, who married a whole family. I don’t even know her first name, because despite a 50+ year friendship, they met as adults and called each other Mrs. Lastname.
I do think this woman must have been an incredible cook or something. Her companion was by all accounts a very dedicated priest otherwise, but that’s the only story I’ve ever heard where a priest gets any quasi romantic leeway (obviously, the church was far too lenient with sexual abuses, but the real reason for the vow of chastity has always been to avoid splitting loyalties and to control expenses, so a 60+ year financial and emotional commitment to a woman approximates that much more closely than the abuse).