Our friendship started just recently, as we peeked over the barrier wall of four computer monitors to chat.
Picture this: we share an office, with two identical desks facing one another. We both do a lot of work on the computer so our matching pairs of identical 26-inch monitors align, abutting one another. On either side, we perform different jobs in the same space: military defense contracting. Up and down the halls of our office space there is definitive chatter but most is surface level, cordial, and as-needed.
Except, that is, in our office.
Julie
La’Toya was part of my hiring process, and I found her insanely beautiful and intimidating in the most humane, approachable way possible. I was so drawn to her. I was leaving a job as a teacher, and in my interview she reiterated (in so many words)how much it was going to SUCK to give up summers off. I admitted that this was my biggest hurdle to leaving the profession, but that it couldn’t be the only reason to stay. The decision was made whether I got this job or not: I was leaving teaching. We exchanged knowing glances when I mentioned motherhood, and I was offered the job the next day. What we figured out in just the first week: (“I put you in with La’Toya” our boss said. “Really?!” I asked — intimidated at crowding her space but excited to share it. She came in on my day two and quelched all my fears as she arrived, yelling from down the hall— “wait I didn’t know my roomie was here?!”) we are almost exactly 6 months apart. Forty, y’all (though humbly, neither of us look it. Respectfully. For real). She has a 9 and a 3 year old; my daughter is also 3. I went to school in the South, and La’Toya hails from Missouri — arguably a Midwestern/southern crossover— originally. She is former navy and a navy spouse, my father was a merchant mariner.
La’Toya
Julie showed up to her interview early, nicely dressed and very well prepared. She was concise in her responses, seemed confident, and definitely up for any challenge that came her way! She seemed warm, kind, and well put together. It would come as as surprise a few weeks down the line that she was just as much a hot mess as I was, in the best way of course! Although I couldn’t grasp why she wanted to sacrifice her summers and school breaks, I could see the determination in her eyes that she needed a change. As she confided her challenges as an educator, it truly touched my heart. Even though I wouldn’t dare show it, I felt a surge of emotion, reflecting on the resilience of our educators and the meaningful impact they have in and out of the classroom. I was thrilled when I returned home after a day of remote work. Our boss had assigned my current office mate to work in my office. She brought a breath of fresh air, and she looked even more beautiful than I had remembered! We clicked almost immediately and soon realized that we had more in common than we could ever imagine. While my mom was working multiple jobs during the week and drilling with the Army Reserves on the weekends, her dad was out sailing the seas as a merchant mariner. We both had a solid foundation of discipline that would mold us into “success”, or some shared version of it. It took us both a few times to find solid footing in the world of marriage, and we both took our time embracing motherhood. Never in a million years did I think I’d move to Rhode Island and find my kindred spirit.
Far more than just the multitude of surface level connections, we shared an immediate bond over cultural references, woes of approaching 40, having moved around the country, motherhood and marriage (fine, marriages. Some of us need to learn the stove is hot by touching it. We are “some of us”). We are simpatico.
So we decided to blog about it. We will share some of our weekly woes, always dosed with humor and positivity. From food allergies to apologies, from meeting minutes and office politics to hair products, we’ve got you covered. Over the Monitors. Over and out.
Over the Monitors 