It was the noise that bothered her, that ever-present hum. For nearly ten hours now, it mocked her. It never faltered, never changed, never went away. She could deal with turbulence, babies crying, kids kicking the back of her chair, but that hum drove her mad every time she got on a plane.
It was the spring of 1993, Tuesday, June 29, 1993 to be exact, that's New York time, back home it was already the 30th. Kate's plane was just a few minutes from touching down at JFK and Ginika had promised she would meet her once she cleared customs. This was brand new for the two of them as Ginika had only recently moved to New York following her divorce from Douglas and Kate's graduation from Durham University.
Kate didn't want to go to New York initially, she had planned to either find a job or go to graduate school but many months before, when her parents broke the news they were getting divorced and Ginika moving away, they encouraged her to take some time off.
"It doesn't have to be forever, a few weeks or months or a year, whatever you want," said Douglas.
"You have the rest of your life to be hard-working and responsible and if we didn't think you were the hard-working responsible type, we wouldn't suggest this," said Ginika.
"Your mum has friends and colleagues over there who could help you find a job and when you move back, you'll have some great work experience to add to your CV," said Douglas.
"When you are older, you'll look back and be glad you had this experience," said Ginika.
Kate just sat and listened to her parents. She felt like she was watching a tennis match as they volleyed one suggestion after another. If only they had been this agreeable during their marriage, perhaps they wouldn't be getting a divorce.
Kate eventually agreed to go. She hadn't taken a gap year so maybe this would be a good chance to experience something different before she was shackled with the responsibilities of adulthood.
As promised, Ginika was waiting for Kate who was thoroughly embarrassed by her mum who stood amongst the hoards of drivers and held up a very large sign 'Ms. McKenzie.' Perhaps if she hadn't just sat through ten hours of monotonous humming or slept more than five minutes she would find it endearing but for now, she's just a cranky twenty-two year old who can still be embarrassed by her mum while more than 3,000 miles away from anyone she knows.
By the following morning, she was a bit more herself after a quasi-decent night sleep. She walked to the dining table to find to Ginika drinking a cup of coffee and eating a sesame bagel from the bagel shop around the corner. "There is butter and cream cheese in the refrigerator. I didn't know what kind of bagel you'd want so I got a variety and if you hurry, they are still warm."
They took it easy for the remainder of the day but as the days and weeks marched on, they ventured out to see the sights around the city, both the tourist traps and the hidden gems known to locals.
With the fall semester at Columbia less than two months away, Ginika had been going into her office almost daily to do research and prepare for the start of the semester. One morning, she encouraged Kate to join her, she would give her a quick tour of campus, get a little work done and then they'd go out for lunch.
Slightly bored in her mum's office with nothing to read but the Wall Street Journal or oversized books on economics that would put her to sleep after a page, Kate grabbed some paper and began writing nonsensical poetry in French.
Caught up in the gibberish she was writing and thankful her mum didn't know French to see what she had been writing, she hadn't noticed that someone had walked into the office. It wasn't until Ginika had tapped her on the shoulder that she realized they were both staring at her. "Kate, this is Dr. Everett Montgomery, he teaches at the Business School here and we've been sharing notes for a paper we are writing together."
With pleasant greetings over, Everett glanced down and commented, "Writing in French, impressive."
Embarrassed that he may have read something he shouldn't have, Kate tried to casually cover the page with her hands when Ginika proudly commented, "Kate's actually fully fluent in French and German, and knows almost as much Italian, Spanish and Portuguese. She has a real ear for languages and most certainly doesn't get that from me."
"If you get me a copy of your resume, I can pass it along to a friend who works at the United Nations. He said they are always in need of translators and interpreters in various capacities. I can't promise anything but it's worth a shot if it's something you may like to try."
Kate's face lit up, "Really, you'd do that for me?"
"Of course, I'm always willing to help those who are smart, competent and hardworking and your mom has been proudly telling me all about you for weeks now. I can pass it along but as I said, no promises."
"I understand," said Kate slightly dejected.
"While I'm here, I'm sure you are getting tired of hanging out with your mom all these weeks."
Kate's smile confirmed he was correct.
"The two of you should come over for dinner one night. My daughter is home from college and my son just graduated like you and is starting graduate school at Fordham this fall. If you come, it'll give you someone your age to talk to. I need to confirm a date with my wife but we can aim for next week if that works for the two of you."
Dinner with the Montgomery family was a success. Kate hit it off with Iris and Preston who invited her to join them and some friends at the Yankee game the next day.
While Kate knew the basic premise of baseball and had heard of the Yankees, that was about where her knowledge of the sport ended but she was young and beautiful so all of Preston's friends were happy to explain it to her.
Those few days made such a positive impact. She got a very entry-level job at the UN doing the grunt work that nobody else wanted to but it was a paycheck and experience and she loved it. She also began dating Jason who she decided was not only the most handsome but also the most interesting of all of Preston's friends.
It wasn't too long before she had a wide circle of friends, had moved up from doing all the grunt work and she and Jason, well, he was no longer interesting but Sasha was. He was a colleague that had been teaching Kate Russian and before long, they were together and getting very serious, very fast.
After a year, Kate and Sasha were going strong and while neither realized it at the time, it was the beginning of the end. It had been subtle, so subtle she hadn't really noticed. They went to the places he wanted to go, they went out with his friends, he dismissed her ideas and little by little, he took what he wanted. There were no major incidents, nothing too egregious but Kate eventually realized as she moved from girlfriend to potential wife, his archaic views on woman's roles began to seep through. While it broke her heart, she ended things and vowed to never let a man just take what he wanted.
As it does, time continued to march on and for Christmas of 1996, Kate flew back to England to see her dad. While there, she visited friends and family and for New Year's Eve, went to her friend Jessica's party.
There were a mix of people, some she knew but more that she didn't. In walked a guy dressed in a hideous 1970's burnt orange plaid leisure suit with an equally hideous mustache and sideburns. "Greg," screamed Kate.
"Kate, how are you?"
"Great! You do realize this isn't a costume party?"
"I know but a few months back I found this lovely outfit at my grandfather's and it fit and I decided I needed grow this sexy moustache to complete the look…just wait and see, it'll make a comeback and when it does, I have this in lime green as well."
"Oh, I forgot how much fun it was hanging out with you."
"I hear you are living in New York these days, how is it?"
"It's great. What I thought would be a few months has turned into a few years. You should come for a visit sometime. You can crash on my couch as long as you don't mind dealing with my roommates."
"That would be awesome. I actually plan to go to San Diego in July for a big comic book convention. My mate and I are trying to get ours published so maybe I can visit before or after."
Over the next six months, they exchanged many letters, the friendship rekindled and plans set in place for a visit in early July. Kate did some of the touristy things with him but also wanted to show him her New York; the places that made it feel like home.
It wasn't long after Greg's flight left for San Diego and they both suddenly felt the absence of the other. While they had been friends for years and dated briefly, it all suddenly felt different. Once settled in his hotel, he called her, "Kate, I just wanted to let you know that I arrived safely," he paused, "and I had a lot of fun with you," another pause to find a little courage, "and I miss you already, isn't that mad?"
"I miss you too."
"Once I'm done with the convention, well, I know you have to work but maybe I can change my flight home and see you again?"
"I'd like that," as a smile erupted across her face.
They continued to write and attempted to do the long distance thing when Greg finally said he couldn't do it anymore, he wanted to move to New York to be with her. In November of 1999, they were married back in Yorkshire in front of friends and family. They welcomed their first son Jacob in August 2002 and their second son Marcus in August 2004 and they were blissfully happy.
When Kate's father began showing signs of Alzheimer's in 2010, she was torn. She wanted to rush back to spend whatever time she had with him before he forgot her but she had built a life in New York. She and Greg contemplated moving back but leaving her mum, her job, their friends, the only home her boys had known, if all felt like a no win situation.
With two international airports so close to their apartment, she would visit whenever she found a last minute deal on a flight and her schedule permitted. By the autumn of 2013, it was getting more and more difficult and with Greg's dad having had a heart attack, it was time. They would wait until the summer, a little time to say goodbye to all of their friends, to do all the things they wanted to and never found the time and to pack up 20 years of memories.
Plans were in place and the move was set for August. With the boys both celebrating birthdays and not wanting more junk to drag back to England, Kate wanted to make this birthday about experiencing New York so they'd have the memories to take with them, and hopefully lots of pictures.
Life had been a bit of a roller coaster for Caroline and her boys over the last few years. While she exuded confidence in her professional life, her personal life was a bit of a train wreck. Over the years, she managed to lose touch with most of her friends and those that she still had were not the type you'd call at two in the morning if you were having a crisis so when her husband walked out she internalized all of the pain and anger. Eventually she hit rock bottom and went to see a therapist knowing her mental health and happiness were more important than the stigma of therapy she had projected.
In hindsight, she wished she had sought help earlier because it had been one of the best decisions of her life. She worked through the issues with her now ex-husband, her younger son's attitude, her repressed sexuality and perhaps the biggest of them all, her mother.
With her newfound confidence, she wanted to plan a memorable holiday with her sons so they were New York bound. Each with a long list of things to see and do, an organized Caroline found a way to squeeze all the activities into their tight schedule.
To both Caroline and William's dismay, one item on Lawrence's list was to see a baseball game. While not her idea of a good time, if she was going to drag him to museums and the theater, she could do this for him. She purchased tickets online for the three of them and hoped that Friday, August 8, 2014 would be her first and last baseball game.
They found their seats, just a few rows back from first base and Lawrence was grinning from ear to ear. He didn't really care about baseball per se but as a sports fan in general, he was savoring the experience whereas Caroline and William were prepared for hours of boredom.
Just five minutes after sitting down, she began to think that a root canal would have been a better activity and then four young boys were about to occupy the seats next to her. Can the day get worse she thought when she heard a voice state, "you need to wait for me." As she looked up, there was a gorgeous woman, wearing a Yankee jersey and to her delight, she was spilling out of it but in a classy way thought Caroline. Things got even better when the woman sat next to her was wearing shorts and she had legs that went on for days. Maybe some eye candy will make the evening worthwhile.
With excitement bubbling over, the four boys were getting a bit boisterous when their mothers told them to calm down. The 'amazing legs lady' turned to Caroline, "I'm sorry they are being so loud, it's a big day for them but they should settle down once the game starts."
"No worries" replied Caroline, "It wasn't too long ago that I was in a similar position with these two. Actually, I'm still there with this one" as she motioned towards Lawrence.
Not wanting the conversation with the 'amazing legs lady' to end but not knowing the right question to ask, "This is my first game, what is it like?"
"A little like cricket but not. A pitcher instead of a bowler but they both throw the ball, the batter tries to hit it and score runs. A lot of other different rules and strategies but I don't imagine you want all that detail."
"Nooooooo."
"If you are looking for a little fan participation, when the Yankee pitcher has two strikes on the batter, everyone starts clapping to induce the strikeout."
"What?"
"Just follow us, you'll pick up on it, I promise."
Not much else was said throughout the course of the game other than an occasional explanation of a play. Without knowing all the details, Caroline could see it was a special day for the boys and decided it wouldn't be fair to spoil the night for the 'amazing legs lady' by chatting to her the whole time. In a way that not everyone can understand, she quietly looked on and took delight, not in the boys' happiness but rather how their happiness brought their mum joy.
The game ended with a 10-6 Yankees victory and Frank Sinatra's 'New York, New York' being played over the loud speakers. She glanced over at the 'amazing legs lady' and saw tears streaming down her face but she couldn't quite tell if they were tears of sadness or tears of joy.