Читать книгу My House Our House - Karen M. Bush - Страница 17

All things revolve around me.

FOUR

Blame It on the Cat

We three had known one another socially for many years, but weren’t close friends. So what brought us together into this adventure in cooperative householding?

It’s curious how a seemingly isolated incident can trigger a cascade of events that bring people together and change lives. The catalyst for creating a cooperative household was Karen’s need to find a home for Beardsley, then 11 years old.

In the 1990’s, Karen changed careers. For a while, she worked from home, but then found herself traveling more and more for work. Eventually, she was assigned to a West Coast project, where she could not take Beardsley. We were all present the night that Karen tearfully confided her tough dilemma:

“I’ve tried everything to find Beardsley a home: cute ads, serious appeals, asking friends, checking with the no-kill shelter. But even the shelter won’t take her, because they can’t find a home for a cat that old. I can’t find her a home, I can’t take her with me to live in a hotel or fall prey to the coyotes out West, and I won’t just abandon her. I’ve run out of options. People seem to think I can always come up with ways to fix problems. Not this time. I absolutely don’t know what to do. Tomorrow morning, I guess I’ll call the vet and ask him what people do in a situation like this.”

Louise spoke up. “Wait a minute. You didn’t ask me. It’s obvious. We’ll do shared custody: I’ll take care of her at my house while you’re gone, and you can have her back when you come home. After all, it’s just for a couple of months.”

With great relief, Karen accepted. Beardsley was saved. Later that night, Karen’s phone rang. Knowing that Karen does not accept help easily, Louise was calling to repeat the offer so there could be no doubt that she was sincere.

So Beardsley moved in and took over Louise’s house. Definitely the alpha cat, Beardsley intimidated poor Peaches (Louise’s cat), who virtually moved to the basement. As often happens, Karen’s project got extended: one month turned into six, six months turned into a year, and Beardsley lived on, learning to cope with the shared custody transitions. When Karen was in town, Beardsley lived with her; when Karen was out of town, she lived with Louise. The living arrangements were fine with her, but it was mortifying to be stuffed into a cat carrier and driven to the other house, yowling all the way.

Meanwhile, Karen’s travel yielded many airline and hotel rewards points. Knowing that Louise would never accept payment, Karen convinced her to use the points for a “free” trip to Napa Valley and San Francisco. It was on this trip that they began to forge a real friendship.

One year turned into two, then three, then five. Beardsley lived on, traveling back and forth between her two homes. The thank-you trips, now dubbed “Annual Beardsley Guilt Trips” for the guilt Karen felt about imposing on Louise, afforded many opportunities for the two friends to see how each handled a variety of situations, from good to disappointing to downright stressful. Among other surprises was their discovery that Louise was the pragmatist and Karen the romantic. (Most people would guess the opposite.) When you travel with someone, you get to know her.

And then, after 39 years of marriage, Jean and her husband separated amicably and divorced. At lunch one day, friends urged Jean to plan a special adventure to launch her new life chapter. It didn’t take much to convince her to join Karen, Louise and another mutual friend for the Fifth Annual Beardsley Guilt Trip. By the end of that trip, we all knew one another pretty well. Beardsley had brought us together.

Joint custody: Louise and Beardsley