Our mothers don’t remember meeting. Close to fifty years ago, Ellie and Meredith were just suddenly in each other’s lives; fast friends who loved sewing, laughter, and wine. When Zak was born, Charlotte’s mom, Mer, declared him “the first baby ever born.” Charlotte followed a decade later and a great circular chase through time and space ensued. Over the course of 31 years, our lives intertwined in many ways. We shared the same spaces in different decades, connected with the same friends in disparate seasons, flew over the same oceans and canyons, but never overlapped long enough for our connection to grow. We both had emotionally devastating experiences leading up to meeting each other again in Schenectady. Raw, vulnerable, single, and curious, we found ourselves quite literally living under the same roof in the summer of 2023. They say that hurt people hurt people. And while that may be true, hurt people can also help others to heal. And that’s what we did for each other, step by painful step that first summer of finally sharing the same geography. Besides which, we had fun together. Laughing and crying and opening up to each other came with a preternatural ease that we found exhilarating. We didn’t seek to fall in love. In fact, we both strongly resisted our feelings, thinking that there was far too much at stake should a potential relationship crash and fail. We were already so invested in each other's lives and families, everything felt quite complicated. You might call it destiny, or a force of nature, or simply biology. Whatever the hell it was, we were helpless to resist and are so very happy to be together in one place at the same damn time!