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The sign read: "John & Kim Gritton Real Estate." I have probably passed by it dozens of times, but I hadn't taken the time to internalize it. "John and Kim." I'm not guessing that they are brother and sister, since that ampersand fairly screams a union other than blood. It's much more comfortable than the apostrophe "N" apostrophe convention found in so many commercial enterprises to instill familiarity. No, this was a symbol of marital bliss.
I know this because I am sometimes guilty of truncating the "and" between my wife's name and my own by a single symbol. Not to denigrate our union, but to enhance it. We don't need a whole word to describe our union, not even a contraction. That's how comfortable we are together. But would I feel that way if we had signs posted around the city? Across the country?
Then I stopped to ponder just how incredibly functional John and Kim, pardon me, John & Kim must be to go into business with one another. My wife has often wished aloud, in my presence, of owning rental property. Extrapolationg that experience out into a world that could hold a real estate company run by the married couple that is comprised by myself and my wife gives me shivers.
Not that it would be all pain. Collaboration is a wonderful and amazing thing, but I know how challenging it is to get a single room in our own house painted. I don't know if there is a property that could withstand our process outside of our own. All of which makes me pleased and happy for John & Kim. Though I do imagine those tough moments when it comes down to a brass tacks discussion about French Provincial versus French Country.