Once upon a time, in the early days, I slept in a camper shell in the Tantus warehouse and bathed in the bathroom sink. Those were good times.
We’d actually lived in the camper shell, it was a cab over camper that fit our pickup truck, for three years prior (really, we followed the sun and seasons of craft fairs and Renaissance festivals and couch surfed a lot too). We were used to the cramped quarters. The warehouse’s bigger work sink was not bathed in, we used that to demold dildos.
We also set up a “living room” inside our whopping 1200 sq ft warehouse in Colorado Springs. It had a rug that had seen better days, a love seat and couch, and a tv. We entertained there as our two small dogs scampered about.
Down the street from our building was a small brewery that sold growlers. Before we had a refrigerator, we used to put them in our cooler chest. We were quite self-contained. I remember once walking with my empties down the street and finding them closed. I turned around and walked back “home” and before I hit our parking lot they came and picked me up, driving me back to their taps. It was a very friendly neighborhood.
There was a wood worker in the next parking lot who also lived in his warehouse. Living in warehouses on Delta Drive was illegal, but everyone knew it was going on and our landlord thanked us when during one rainy storm the roof started leaking and we quickly got word to the maintenance people; the land lords antiques were in the next bay.
We paid our rent on-time and worked weird hours. We had so many friends who’d stop by, come in, keep us company, sometimes lending a hand. Everyone was welcome. It was a fun space… full of dildos.
We were in Colorado Springs, but we had a dear friend Karen up in Wheat Ridge. Wheat Ridge was a small charming suburb of Denver, about an hour Northwest of us. Every Tuesday Karen left her back sliding door unlocked so we could slip in and take real hot showers and then after she got home from work, she’d make us a big dinner and send us off with the left overs. Karen was a Lutheran. Karen took care of people. Karen took care of us. We had no money, we were weird freaks making sex toys for gods sake, and she didn’t care.
She was a single mother, and there never was a father. She was putting herself through college and working full time. Full time mom, full time student and full time employee yet she still made space, time and food for us every Tuesday.
She grew up not far from her apartment and was very close to her family. We got to know her dad and her siblings, all of them. We also got to know all of her friends. They did “Friends Thanksgiving” and game nights, and eventually weddings and well, all the things. We brought her into the Renaissance work we did. Our daughters were best friends. My sister married one of her best friends.
Dinners with Karen were more than food— they were faith. Faith that we would make it. Faith that the sacrifice would pay off.
We gave Karen one of each of our designs, we really didn’t have much else. I’m pretty sure she never used them, but she kept them out on her dresser for anyone and everyone to see. She took great pride in those dildos. She was a good woman.
When we left Colorado we sort of had also left Karen. She had married and while the marriage was wonderful, as a team they seemed much more conservative, less wanting to hang with the freaks. And really, we didn’t need holding the same way. Kris did some repairs when they bought a house together and we still enjoyed those Friends Thanksgivings.
Visiting the state years later I made a point of meeting up with her for dinner- at the restaurant and I paid and thanked her. It wasn’t enough but it was what she was comfortable with.
She died several years ago. She was younger than me and always so very vibrant. I cry for her two daughters, especially for Shannon, I never really met her younger daughter. Shannon was always her mother’s child.
Karen fed us, but it was so much more than food.
Karen really was a beautiful light that shinned bright! Because of Karen, I met my husband. She had tooken him in and cared for him until we got on our feet. We were only kids, I lived at home. Shannon has been my best friend for as long as I can remember. We grew up together down the sidewalk from eachother at the townhouses. Karen always wanted people to feel like they were worth something, no matter the situation. We miss her so often.