Physicist Xanthe Croot and educator Bee Solomon met in 2009 outside a rental inspection in Sydney. Their friendship grew through years of sharing a home, supporting each other through illness and staying close after Croot moved to the United States.
Croot and Solomon were waiting to inspect a house in Glebe when the rental agent brought the wrong keys. Both were in their second year at the University of Sydney and attended St Barnabas on Broadway. Solomon had to hurry to another inspection, so they agreed to exchange notes. They eventually shared a home for nine years. Croot had a scholarship and came from a farming family enduring drought, though Solomon initially assumed that a law student living at St Andrew’s College came from a wealthy family.
Their home was filled with friends, dinner parties and music. Solomon cooked, played guitar and sang. Croot recalled returning from the laboratory to find their flatmates watching The Bachelorette, then writing to the producers to object to the show’s sexism. They shared changes in their studies: Croot moved from law to physics, while Solomon switched from medical science to education.
Solomon’s life changed after she developed a chronic condition affecting multiple systems in her body. She went from running marathons to spending months almost unable to move in bed. Croot moved her mattress into her friend’s room so she could stay nearby. In 2018, after completing her physics PhD, Croot accepted a job at Princeton University. Before leaving, she wrote to Solomon that she felt she was leaving part of herself behind.
On one occasion, Solomon was driving Croot to a train station when they met a distressed woman who had missed a bus to visit a loved one in a prison about 90 minutes away. Despite being exhausted, Solomon drove her there. Four years after Croot left, she returned to Australia for a job at the University of Sydney and travelled straight to see Solomon in a coastal town in the Illawarra region. Solomon met her at the station in her van with her rescue dog, Trooper, and a surfboard.
While Croot was in the United States, the friends spoke every Sunday and exchanged letters and cards. Solomon was too unwell to visit, so Croot saw her during trips back to Australia. When Solomon’s illness affected her ability to work, Croot helped pay for medication and transferred money with the payment reference “Snacky snacks.”
In January 2026, Solomon had a miscarriage. Her medication affected the pain relief she had been given, leaving her in severe pain. Croot stayed for a week and slept on the lounge beside her. Solomon said her illness affected where she could live and work, and Croot always made the effort to travel to her.