hen Laine moved to New Jersey a few years after leaving college, she was looking for a new experience. “I’m from Nashville, but I had friends on the east coast,” she says. In 2009, she found a job as a school administrative assistant. “I’d just started dating my husband and was living with friends. It was a really fun time for me.”
Frances, who had moved to New Jersey from California for her husband’s postgraduate studies, says she “subconsciously knew” that Laine didn’t like her. “I didn’t have any bad feelings towards her, but I sensed she wasn’t keen on me. I can be quite loud and energetic and sometimes come on a bit strong,” she says. When Laine announced she was getting married in 2010, Frances used it as an opportunity to become friends.
Frances moved back to California in 2013, and got a job at another school. They maintained their friendship with weekly phone calls, as well as regular visits to Los Angeles. That year, Frances had her first baby, while Laine had her first child in 2014. “We now both have two boys. It’s really nice having children of a similar age and knowing you’re not alone in it,” says Frances.
The women love to travel together when they can, meeting in different parts of the US. “We’ve been to Texas, New Mexico, Alaska, San Francisco and Denver. We both love gardening and always go to botanical gardens,” says Frances. “The pandemic was hard because we couldn’t travel, so we did lots of calls and texting.”