As I continue to learn — by examples like yours and from my own personal experience — life partnerships don’t have to fall into lock step with rigid, predetermined social structures or traditions. We can create our own relationship and family structures according to our individual and common needs. Thinking outside the normative box frees us to do what’s most beneficial for everyone involved, instead of having to adhere to rigid, cookie-cutter concepts that only restrict our ability to thrive and love as our truest selves.