It was then that Harper felt he was reaching the bottom of the abyss. She has been through a series of tragic events, including divorce, fear of cancer and the devastating loss of two loved ones.
Before that, he always followed the traditional way. She married a 24-year-old soldier and they have a daughter, who is now 9 years old.
“We had a life full of ideal enclosures,” he said.
However, “Since childhood, I’ve always felt that the traditional way didn’t suit me.” It didn’t make any sense, “continued Harper.” But I was terrified of breaking any rules. “
After her marriage ended and she suffered several losses, she made the difficult and daring decision to “burn the rules of life”.
His close friend Hopper was on a similar boat. She and her then husband divorced that same year and said, “I woke up one day and said, ‘How did I get here?’ I said, “explained Hopper, a lawyer for the nonprofit organization.
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He and Harper often relied on each other for joint fights.
“We both lived in separate apartments and were trying to cope with this new life, and it can be very tiring,” said Hopper, who has two children aged 13 and 9.
Also, the pandemic has just arrived and he said: “it’s a good time to think about what life is like and who you want to spend it with.”
While their friends were on a Zoom call one evening, their joke about starting a commune commune resurfaced, but the conversation quickly went from nonsense to serious.
Given their growing desire for more access and support to the real estate market, women have decided that having a shared home would make sense. They accidentally made a plan.
“What have I got to lose?” Harper remembered how she was thinking about herself at the time. Her conclusion: “Nothing”.
“The only reason I hesitated was because I was told women shouldn’t do this; “People shouldn’t do that,” she continued. However, “I have done and am doing everything that the culture has told me and I am alone and I fight.”
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Hopper had similar thoughts: “I never thought of it as an option,” he said. “But it’s normal and natural.”
That same night, the women began an online cleaning for homes in the Washington area and even found a real estate agent. In April 2020, they offered four green tea units in Tacoma Park, Md.
“We walked in and thought, ‘That’s it,'” Hopper said of the house.
They closed the house in June 2020 and the women and their children moved into the house over the summer. After completing the purchase, they were looking for hosts for the two remaining apartments in the house. Leandra Nicola contacted them as soon as it was published in the local bulletin.
“I’m a single mother too,” Nicholas told the women, explaining that he hoped to “find stability for my family.”
He lived in Tacoma Park for 15 years and loved the area but couldn’t afford to buy a house. Nicola has been separated from her husband for five years and since then she and her two children, aged 9 and 12, have lived in five different homes.
Nicola met with Harper and Hopper to determine if her life situation would work out and they got in touch immediately. “Our values coincided,” said Nicholas, although they were different in many ways.
“It was just kind of a direct link,” Hopper said.
So Nicholas and his two sons moved to the basement in August and a few months later Jane Jacobs, with whom Hopper and Harper were former friends, began renting the top floor.
A lonely, childless man at the start of the outbreak, Jacobs experienced a strong sense of loneliness.
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Hopper and Harper offered to take the last remaining portion and Jacobs said, “Why don’t you try something different?” she thought.
“It was really an opportunity to connect with people,” said Jacobs, a CrossFit coach, who also runs a dog walking and pet download business.
“Having this vibrant community is very rewarding if you can find the right people and the right place,” said Jacobs. “You know, there is always someone who helps the children, the animals, in any endeavor.”
After occupying all four parts of the house, the women who shared custody of the children with their ex-husbands soon established close dynamics, and Jacobs and Nicholas even developed a romantic relationship in the process.
“It was a great surprise,” said Jacobs.
“No part of my life has been affected by this experience, and it’s all for the best,” said Nicholas.
While women between the ages of 40 and 46 live in four separate compartments with separate kitchens and living rooms, “we deliberately spend a lot of time together,” said Nicola and Jacobs after a brief trial. They began to contribute early so that they too could become homeowners.
Women call their home the “House of the Mermaid”, with mythical half-bird, half-tooth creatures. They see mermaids as a symbol of feminist emancipation.
As a group, the four women regularly schedule movie nights, dinners, parties and casual encounters. They also celebrate holidays, birthdays and other important holidays together.
“We are truly like Debbie, and children are more like our grandchildren,” Harper said. “We are not unhealthy drug addicts. We depend on each other “.
Hopper says, “We all understand each other’s humanity and have a genuine desire to care for each other.” He said. “We will not be romantic. It is real and real, deep and satisfying. “
“It was clear from the start that our number one job was to support each other,” Nikola added. “You have unconditional love and support like a family. This is a dream. “
Life at Siren House has opened many doors for Nicholas, including the opportunity to fulfill his long career aspirations of opening a bar. In March 2021 the women co-founded Main Street Pearl, which is run by Nicola.
“Without them, it would never have been possible,” he said.
All four women were encouraged to rethink the life they wanted through the experience of living together. Their collective status shows that there is more than one way to create a family and a foundation.
Let’s say the village needs it, but who creates the villages there? ‘Harper asked. “This is what we do”.
Harper has a tip for others joking among his friends they moved with to lighten the load on life: “Go, do it,” he said. “This is great.”
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Source: Washington Post
John Cameron is a journalist at The Nation View specializing in world news and current events, particularly in international politics and diplomacy. With expertise in international relations, he covers a range of topics including conflicts, politics and economic trends.