Paula Schoenwether, an artist and photographer, and the Rev. Nancy Wilson, moderator of Metropolitan Community Churches, talk openly about their 28-year-old civil union as partners in all aspects of life --- living as a married couple, taking out a mortgage, blending families, caring for children, sharing debt - elements of a long-term relationship not always recognized as a legal arrangement. “The older we’ve gotten, the more in some ways we’ve peeled away our own internalized issues.’