So Happy Together

TAMPA - In the 1960s, they were best friends in high school at the Academy of the Holy Names, the Catholic girls school on Bayshore Boulevard.

Lorraine Marchetti was the girl from Alabama who boarded at the Academy. Nieves Gonzalez was the one from Cuba with the big personality. Pat Torres was the girl from South Tampa who kept their memories in a scrapbook.

Lorraine and Pat graduated in 1968; Nieves was a class behind them. They went on to separate colleges. The girls who had eaten lunch together every day in high school became women who lost touch, even though two of them lived in the same town.

It wasn't that they forgot each other: Lorraine kept Nieves' class picture - the one signed "your little sister" - in her jewelry box. Pat heard news about Lorraine through the years because Lorraine's uncle, a Catholic priest, was a close friend of her parents.

Still, a chance encounter had to occur to reunite them, and that wouldn't happen until they were middle-aged. By that time, Lorraine had married and divorced and raised four daughters. Nieves and Pat had each become the caregiver for an elderly parent.

When they were a trio again, in their 50s, their support for one another would help them take chances and do some remarkable things: They would start a business, open a restaurant, renovate a house through their own sweat and create a company from a yogurt recipe. One would have a severe stroke and nearly die; the other two would become her caregivers.

Pat and Nieves didn't know any of that, of course, when they were the first ones to reconnect, at a downtown Tampa church in 1996. Pat worked at the church as a wedding coordinator. She spotted a woman delivering flowers. Nieves? Nieves! It had been nearly 30 years since they had really talked. Sitting in a back pew, they yakked through an entire wedding and discovered they both lived in South Tampa.

Then out of the blue, Lorraine called Nieves in 1998. She was coming to the 30th reunion of the class of 1968. Lorraine lived in Maryland and never had attended an Academy reunion before, not one. "I won't believe it until I see the whites of her eyes," Pat said.

But Lorraine didn't let them down. And she had such a good time, she returned for a monthlong vacation later that summer. The three friends went to every beach they could find and felt like kids again. Lorraine flew back to Maryland. She called Nieves: "It's time for me to come home."

What's boxing up a whole household of possessions among friends? Nieves and Pat rented a huge truck, drove up the Eastern Seaboard and helped Lorraine move in August.

That was 10 years ago, and the many mishaps of that trip have become lore, like the story about how the eave on Lorraine's house was crushed (Nieves was backing up the truck and miscalculated). "Moving Lorraine" can still make them break out in belly laughs.

The three friends are great storytellers, especially when together. There seems to be a running theme among their favorite tales: Of course, we can do this! Like when they took a sledgehammer to the walls of Nieves' house - it was old and needed a better floor plan - and worked on the renovation every night after their day jobs, for nearly a year.

'It Just Felt Right'

Last summer, they did their latest big thing. They moved in together and formed a household. Each woman has her own private space, but they can see each other every day. The timing was right. Pat had been the caretaker for her elderly father, but he died last spring and she didn't like living alone. Nieves had inherited the house from her mother but couldn't afford to keep it. Lorraine became a co-owner, and they got a mortgage.

They have a main house, where Lorraine and Nieves live, and a spacious mother-in-law apartment that Pat occupies. Each woman has her own bedroom and bathroom. Common space includes a comfortable living room with teak wall units and leather couches, and the kitchen, where they eat dinner together every night. Lorraine usually cooks. Pat cleans up.

"It just felt right from the get-go," Pat says. There may be occasional squabbles, but not about much. Anything that's really important can be discussed.

"We're not kids," Lorraine says.

They have some differences about Nieves' dog, Oscar, an 85-pound boxer. Lorraine doesn't want Oscar to go into her room. Nieves doesn't like it that Lorraine feels that way.

"I'm a softy with the dog," says Nieves, as she feeds Oscar a piece of ice from the freezer. "Softy! ...You let that dog do anything!" Lorraine says.

Then everybody laughs. There is a lot of laughter in this house. "What we do for each other, money can't buy," Lorraine says. It helps them get through downturns or take a crazy chance.

Trying New Things

There was the time when Lorraine and Nieves were laid off by the same sales company in 1999.

Nieves was worried, but not Lorraine. She told Nieves, "Let's do something fun." They bought a van to haul tools and opened a home-repair business. For two years, they painted, built patios and made minor plumbing repairs.

The next time, though, it was Nieves who was the bold one and pushed them into something new. She ate a bowl of Lorraine's homemade yogurt, sprinkled with papaya, mango and mint, and said, "I think we're in the wrong business." They were still doing home repairs, but she suddenly saw a future called "Lorraine's Yogurt." She brought home 10 flats of strawberries and a commercial-sized pot. They started experimenting with flavors and began to develop a base of special-order customers.

When their orders kept expanding, they needed a restaurant kitchen. It fell into their laps when Nieves stopped for a Cuban sandwich on Cypress Street. She asked if the owner would be interested in renting his kitchen during off hours. The owner said, "No, but why don't you buy it?" They haggled over the price - Nieves drives a hard bargain and got a deal - and shook hands. She went home and announced to Lorraine, "We bought a restaurant." Lorraine, of course, said, "WHAT?!"

They named the restaurant Boulevards and, in 2000, went headfirst into a business with 16-hour days. Lorraine's Yogurt gained a large following through word of mouth. People picked up orders at the restaurant, which also served meals. Pat had her own job but always lent a hand when they needed help.

All For One, One For All

It wasn't long, though, before this close trio would be tested: What were the limits of their loyalty and how much would they by willing to do for a friend? In 2005, Nieves had a life-threatening stroke and heart surgery. She developed complications and a dangerous infection. She nearly died.

Nieves was in the hospital for three months and was readmitted more than once. Lorraine, her health care surrogate, never left her side at the hospital, not even at night. She slept in the recliner by Nieves' bed. She was there when Nieves looked so bad that Lorraine reached to take her pulse and couldn't find it. Lorraine went running for help. It was serious. Nieves had something wrong with her heart and had to have emergency surgery.

At the hospital, Pat visited twice each day and brought Lorraine clean clothes. She and Lorraine would tuck Nieves in at night and go to a restaurant around the corner to talk and decompress.
Maybe Lorraine looked tired on the day that Nieves said in a weak voice, "Go home." Lorraine bent down, inches from her face, "Would you go home if I were the one who was sick?" No, said Nieves, "Then don't ask me to," Lorraine said.

After Nieves was released from the hospital, Lorraine became her caregiver, with the help of Pat. Lorraine had Nieves come home with her. She dressed Lorraine's surgery wounds and looked after her. Pat was there, too, and she did crossword puzzles and watched "Jeopardy!" with Nieves: Brain-training rehab.

Two years later, Nieves is on disability but has recovered remarkably. She and Pat still have a routine of working the crossword puzzle when Pat comes home from her job as a claims analyst.
Lorraine looks after Nieves, too. They go as a pair to Nieves' doctor appointments.

Meanwhile, Lorraine is about to launch a new company that sprung from Nieves' vision of what could be done with a homemade yogurt recipe. It started with Boulevards and will, they hope, go national. She has attracted a large base of investors and is building a yogurt manufacturing plant on Cypress Street. And she has an advertising campaign ready to go.

The friends from high school are in their late 50s. Together, they can do anything.