Kate and Becky – Plus Three Kids and Two Husbands

Our house in Florida is still for sale. We’ve lowered the price and painted two rooms a less-offensive khaki color. (Who knew cranberry was such a turn-off?) We’ve asked for prayers and positive thoughts. We even found a new realtor who might actually do something.

Still. The house just sits there. People say the market is dead and my abode is not a sh*thole; therefore I try not to take it all so personally. In the meantime, my boys and I are living with Becky and her family in Colorado Springs. I know. A 23-year friendship down the drain.

Actually, I’m optimistic. Her house is the size of a small country. We could go days without seeing each other. Plus, Becky and I are surrounded by males. That cuts down on the drama.

Speaking of drama, we did try living together once. During the summer of 1987, I moved into her house and we were excited because we thought it’d be like one long-lasting sleepover. We were best friends! We’d stay up late, talk about boys and map out future plans that included backpacking across Europe and sleeping with a different guy in each country! Then our seventeen year-old moods took over. I didn’t want to follow rules and Becky didn’t want to make room for “patchouli-oil stank.” We tried to share one bedroom (two words: digestion issues) and one bathroom (Beck’s beauty products needed their own zip code). My Misfits albums tried to co-exist with her Debbie Gibson records. Couldn’t we see such an arrangement was doomed from the beginning? Several weeks later, I came home from a three-day bender to find my belongings in Hefty bags.

I believe her final words were: Have a nice life. We didn’t talk for over a year.

Yet, here we are almost two decades later, giving it another go. We're older now; grounded in our identity and mature enough not to fight over Commander Salamander catalogs. Plus, I no longer consort with criminals who don't believe in deoderant. That makes a big difference when planning dinner parties.

I wonder how long this will last. Bets anyone?