In 1983 Karen Thompson and Sharon Kowalski were four years into a relationship–they’d exchanged rings and vows and felt committed to each other as partners in life.
The choice to stay in the closet ended for Thompson and Kowalski when Kowalski was involved in an automobile accident that left her partially paralyzed. Kowalski now requires round-the-clock medical care. She has only rudimentary communication skills, and she has a short-term-memory problem.
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Thompson fought back in court too, demanding better medical attention for Kowalski and visitation rights for herself and Kowalski’s friends. “I talked to Sharon as things started to get bad,” she explains. “I told Sharon I thought we needed to come out if we were to have a chance of winning it. She understood and gave me permission to fight this, to do anything I needed to do. But each decision is bigger and bigger and there are many times I’ve wished I could have sat down with her and talked. I’ve had to follow my heart.”
“This takes visitation out of the hands of her father,” Thompson says. “I never dared dream we would get documented what we got in that evaluation. It validates everything I’ve been saying. And that’s wonderful.”
What Thompson wants most is to get Kowalski out of institutions. “I want to bring Sharon home, whether it’s as a friend or a partner,” she says. “You know, I love this woman with every part of my being.”
