It was Janet who said it was a “sweet surprise.” She continues, “The dailiness is quite powerful. There is an easiness in being yourself all the time … no need to wear make-up – some days not even getting out of one’s P.J’s. There is an ease in sharing the basic stuff, for instance, ‘I’ll pick up chicken on the way home’… It makes life easier. I can still be the introvert that I am. Living alone wasn’t difficult… together we have a house, I wouldn’t have purchased a house on my own.”

Kathleen says, “We are both completely comfortable being alone and the companionship is wonderful. We can bounce ideas with each other, talk about family issues…  I’m very positive about it. On a practical level it makes sense. It used to be that people had big families who would help out. It’s not like that anymore.”

Commentary

Here are two friends who fell into sharing housing and their home-mate relationship. I was glad to give them a word for the relationship – there are people around them who assume that they are a couple – but they are very clear that isn’t the case. They are home-mates.