MM Topic long time girlfriend

Ashlar2006

Masonic Mafia
Purely for discussion......

Suppose one of your brethren passed away , he was never married but spent many , many years in a long term , loving relationship with with a woman (in other words ,a girlfriend or common law wife) , would your lodge or yourself still afford her the same assistance you would a wife ?

ETA: Keep in mind , I am talking about VERY LONG term relationship . I know a brother who has been dating the same woman for a lot of years , they were both married before and both marriages ended badly so they do not want to get married again . This is what brought this to mind .

.
 

Duncan1574

Lodge Chaplain & arms dealer
...their widows and orphans...
wid·ow
(w
d
)
n.
1. A woman whose spouse has died and who has not remarried.
... That said, our OBs don't require anything, but the Lodge could vote to assist the GF.
 

Ashlar2006

Masonic Mafia
I am just throwing things against the wall and seeing what sticks , it's been too quiet in here lately .
 

jason

Seanchaí
Staff member
I am always open to helping those in need if able to. Well, if their character is acceptable to me. There have been a few in the past I've helped who seemed to squander the help.
 

Winter

I've been here before
I agree, I really think this would need to be a case by case basis. The longtime GF/common law wife of a Brother who acted and was accepted as a member of the extended family would of course be treated differently than the one who was never seen and took no part in our community.
 

Ashlar2006

Masonic Mafia
I agree, I really think this would need to be a case by case basis. The longtime GF/common law wife of a Brother who acted and was accepted as a member of the extended family would of course be treated differently than the one who was never seen and took no part in our community.
True , we have a couple of Brothers in my circle of tight knit Masonic friends (we are closer than many blood relations) who have girlfriends that we have excepted into our "family" as one of us , like we do the wives .
 

jaya

Active Member
She is not a widdow so is not afforded the rights of someone that was married to a brother. I would support her if I couls but not to the extent of a brother's widdow.
 

Windrider

Plus-sized tuxedo model
I'm chair of the Widows' Committee of my Lodge. Although I have not had to make a decision like this yet, I think I would treat her the same as a Widow. We honor our dear Widows because they were partners with our Brothers. If that partnership is there, and it seems like it is in this case, the ceremony doesn't really matter to me. When I got married, I thought the wedding was not really for us but for the people we invited to attend. We were already committed to each other, all we were really doing was publicly declaring it through a ceremony.

The "girlfriend", I prefer to think of her as a "partner", has made the same kind of sacrifices as a wife would. She sat alone at a dinner table while the Brother went to dinner at the lodge. She put up with the half hour long chats with total strangers her guy had when he met a brother on the street. She picked up his tuxedo at the cleaners and sewed his jacket buttons back on. She deserves the same treatment as any other Widow.
 

Ashlar2006

Masonic Mafia
Okay , Partner , it does sound better . To be honest marriage IS just a piece of paper .

I would support a long time " partner" just as much and as equal as I would a widow , I would not let a piece of paper stand in the way of how far I would go to care for a girlfriend/common law if her partner (and brother) has passed on . But as stated above , I would take it by a case by case basis .
 

Duncan1574

Lodge Chaplain & arms dealer
Interestingly, we had a FC come forward with his employer's son health issue & lack of insurance, WM sayings we will discuss it at the next Stated.
 
Top