On this LGBTQ Families Day, we celebrate the story of Indianapolis couple, Wendy and Nancy, and their family.
We live in Indianapolis, Indiana in our home that we built in 2001, and where we raised our daughters — Whitley and Alex — through high school and college. We have two dogs, Olive and Stella and will celebrate our 28th Anniversary June 29, 2024.
Our wedding — our legal wedding in 2019 — was a wonderful celebration with over 200 friends and family, including many of our daughters’ friends and their families that we became close to throughout their childhoods. Our wedding took place at Regions Tower, downtown Indianapolis. It was a milestone celebration and culmination of 23 years of our lives together raising our daughters. We wanted everyone that had shared in our journey to celebrate that moment with us — celebrate that we were finally able to get married – celebrate our friendships and those who supported us — celebrate our family. It was a day to remember.
Raising our daughters in a bit more conservative suburb of Indianapolis, we navigated the “two-mom” journey with care and what we felt was our responsibility to raise awareness about our family, knowing that we were at that time one of the only two-mom families in our area. We knew we were setting a precedence for families that would come after us. We were present. We attended school functions, volunteered in the community and in the classroom. We were friendly and helpful to other parents. We were a house where our girls’ friends came to play. And I believe we got back what we gave out. We put ourselves out there and, at times, we did feel the awkward stares or comments, but we held our heads high for our daughters and always took the higher ground. We gained respect and trust through our genuine interactions and consideration of all — other parents, schoolteachers and faculty, neighbors, community business associates — but most importantly, from our daughters. They tell us to this day that we taught them to be proud of our family.
We treasure our family and consider our daughters (along with Alex’s one husband and Whitley’s fiancé) our most fun friends! They are our pick for who do we want to invite, whether its dinner, a concert, vacation, our just hanging at home playing games and chilling!
Nancy enjoys and is thankfully skilled at DIY fixes and updates to our home of 23 years, which also keeps her busy being retired. She in on the board for our HOA (603 homes) which keeps her very busy! She loves baseball (Chicago Cubs!) and is very much looking forward to the upcoming Indiana Fever games (Caitlin Clark!). I will be working for a few more years and also thankfully enjoy what I do for my firm. I am also an avid runner and enjoy half and full marathons and contribute crossing the finish lines to my awesome roadie, Nancy. I could not do it without her! We support each other no matter the goal or task. It is true in our case that opposites attract.
We have nearly 30-year family tradition — our summer vacation to Saugatuck, Michigan. We go for a week around the July 4th Holiday. Family traditions are important and something we insisted on, and Saugatuck was and is a place where we always felt enormous support as a family. We have made memories to treasure forever and now our girls are bringing their husband and fiancé which is so wonderful and something we always hoped would happen – that they would want to come back as adults and carry on our tradition. Now we are just holding out for the time we will take our grandkids!! We feel truly blessed and thankful for our lives with our family and hope to be an example to others in their journey!
We support Family Equality because it represents our family. It is all we strive to represent and fight for. Family Equality to us means that our family should not be defined by others or a belief system. Our family deserves the same consideration and rights as “traditional” families. All families should be treated equally — with access to support, legal representation, community resources, and financial, legislative and parental rights.
— Written by Wendy
Join us for Family Equality’s Giving Day!
On Monday, June 3, we’re also celebrating 24 hours of LOVE, FAMILY, and FREEDOM to garner support for the work ahead—and YOU can get in on the fun!
Make your gift towards our $25,000 Giving Day goal today.
Every dollar raised toward Family Equality Giving Day will be matched, up to $10,000, thanks to generous support from our partners CCS Fundraising and Progyny.
