There are certain family members who would never miss any family event, be it Thanksgiving, special birthday celebration , Sunday Bar-B-Q or G-d forbid funeral.This is my cousin. Since a family is constantly expanding and there are always new faces at each event, my cousin always has to introduce his other half as his partner. His partner. His business partner? No his loving life partner with whom he has shared his life for many years. It is a shame that up until now, there hasn’t been a respectable, loving and official term describing this relationship. I hope that they will soon introduce each other as their para-husband and everyone will understand that it has nothing to do with an office but instead, it has everything to do with his family and home.Sheryl 
Sheryl:
Thanks for taking the time to write and I agree! At least until the courts see fit to permit marriage in all 50 states, then why not call ourselves para-wives or husbands? Thanks again