my aunt. a little background here. in 2000, after an awesome celebration of the new millennium, i moved to the united states. i flew in to boston and moved in with my brother in worcester, the armpit of massachusetts. i was embarking on a completely new phase in my life and i had the option to start it wherever i pleased. the story of how new york ended up being the choice is another story but it includes a bus ride to new york, on the invitation of an uncle who lived in new jersey. he believed that new york was the best place for me to find work, so i had agreed to spend the weekend with him so he could convince me. the bus arrived at the port authority as i stepped off the bus, i was overwhelmed by the hugeness of the place. there were so many buses and doors and people. oh and it was nighttime on a friday night. i looked around and had no idea how i was expected to find anyone. i stood around for a bit. nothing. i found a pay phone and tried to call my uncle. voicemail. i waited a little longer and tried to call him again. voicemail. this cycle was repeated until a couple of hours had gone by and i was out of quarters. what was i to do.
although the port authority of 2000 was a much friendlier place than the port authority of 1990, it was still a rather intimidating space for a jenny-come-lately with no sense of direction and no plan b. what was i to do? i sat at the top of one of many stairwells and tried to come up with an idea. a young man walked up to me and asked me what i was doing. according to him, he had seen me and could tell that i was in trouble - i looked very confused. i explained that i had run out of quarters, was trying to find my uncle and had no plan b. he happened to have a mobile phone and offered it to me. "try to call him again," the young man said. voicemail. "don't you know anyone else in new york?"
i shook my head, no, and sat back, defeated. what to do, what to do... but wait! i remembered that a few months earlier, an aunt had called me. and aunt i had not spoken in to many many years, maybe more than ten. i remembered that she had mentioned that she was living in new york. could this be true. i paged through my little notebook and showed the number to the young man. yes, he confirmed, that was a new york number. it was almost midnight but i was desperate. i called the number and waited. the most welcome voice in history answered and insisted that i come over immediately. she took me in and made room for me. i ended up staying with her for the weekend and, when i decided to move to new york, she let me stay with her for several months, while i sorted myself out.
she is my family in new york. but, we lived in different neighbourhoods and i, for one, got busy with work and life in general and i was not keeping in touch as well as i should. i had been there for this awesome arrival and we had spent christmas together. we also spent a little time hanging out when my mother was around but i really had no idea what was going on with her. and then there was that call from the deputy sheriff.
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