Molly sat in the waiting room, quiet with anticipation, as she awaited the results of Shane’s latest MRI. If the results came back normal, she would be released today. Molly fidgeted nervously with her ring, as she looked at the clock on the wall. An older woman, whom Molly had never seen before, was sitting in the corner of the waiting room watching Molly intently. Molly noticed her watching her and politely smiled at her. She had a motherly quality about her smile and her eyes when she crookedly smiled back.

            Taking Molly’s smile as an opening, the woman spoke, “I’m sorry to bother you, but I’ve been watching you. Are you okay, honey?”

            “What? Um, yeah,” Molly replied, startled at first by the woman’s question.

            “It’s just that you look awfully worried. I saw you were playing with your wedding ring,” the woman said as she motioned to her own. “Are you awaiting news on your husband?”

            Looking down at her ring, with a slight smile on her face, Molly replied, “No. My partner, actually.”

            “Oh!” the woman replied, surprised. “Me too,” she continued, somewhat sadly. “Why is your partner here?”

            “She was in a bad car accident about a week ago. She’s having her final MRI scan today and if everything comes back okay, she’s being discharged,” Molly replied, hopefully.

            “Oh, that’s wonderful, dear!”

            “What about you?” Molly asked. “Why is your partner here?”

            “Cancer,” the woman admitted. “She’s been fighting it for years. It’s one of the reasons we’re here.”

            “Better treatment options?” Molly asked, interested.

            “That’s part of it, but mostly it’s because Beth, my partner, wanted me to be able to make decisions for her and our union wasn’t recognized where we’re from. So we moved here, got a civil union license and started her treatments.”

            “It’s so ridiculous that you had to move out here for that reason. I just wish we had the same rights as everyone else everywhere, you know?” Molly replied, as she got up and moved closer to the woman.

            “Hopefully, someday,” the woman said as she patted Molly’s hand.

            Molly smiled as she thought back to the many conversations that she had had in the past few months with her professor, Kerry McGruff, about using her legal education to help fight for gay civil rights. Speaking with this woman furthered cemented what Molly already knew; that she wanted to be a part of that fight.