Lauren and Jordan
Jordan and I began living together approximately two weeks after we first met. If one is to define family as a group of individuals sharing a residence, we have been together in this respect for a little over two years.
Yet our relationship has matured significantly since we first got together during my senior year of undergraduate studies at Syracuse University. At that time we were living with a group of college roommates—family, but of an entirely different sort!
After my graduation, Jordan and I were able to move into an apartment of our own. We had acquired a few cats along the way, whom we commonly refer to as our "children," seeing as we don't anticipate having any of the human sort in the near future! We often take this "kittens as children" metaphor to laughable levels, and they are a loved part of our little family.
For the most part, Jordan and I tend to express our identity as a couple by creating a home where we each feel represented as an individual, and yet our home also reflects the path of our lives together up to this point.
About two years ago, and about six months into our relationship, Jordan and I had the opportunity to have our photograph taken by a photography student at the University. As a surprise for our one year anniversary, Jordan had this photo framed, and it hangs on the living room wall of what is now our third apartment together. This photo now strikes me as a keepsake that signifies my relationship with Jordan at a time when it was relatively new, and we were visibly younger. We both appreciate this project as an opportunity to capture the growth in our relationship and the development of our lives together as a family.
Lauren