Mr. Turner was a nice old man. His wife Helen was always mingling with the different tenants. During the holidays, they always made sure that everyone had company to celebrate with. They also had six children who were grown up and scattered all over America. Their youngest daughter Dawn, who was Rose's age, lived in the city. Thomas and Andrew lived in California, while John, Susan and Beth lived in the central states. Every Thanksgiving, the whole family would get together and laugh and tell stories until they were completely wiped out. It had always surprised Rose that they were so open with each other, so close.
"Good morning Mr. Turner! How's Helen and the kids?"
"Oh, why good morning Rose! Helen's fine, she's doing a charity function this afternoon so she's quite busy. As for my kids, they're just up to the usual. Oh let's see now, John just moved to Oregon- who in the world knows why. He said there was some kind of business opportunity there. Susan just had the baby, a baby girl. Beth just accepted a proposal from one of her old childhood sweethearts, Thomas decided to finally go to college and Andrew is up to the same old, same old. Andrew's little daughter Mary just had her 5th birthday last week and now she says she wants to be an actress. Ha! Kids." He said as leaned on the side of the wall.
"Well, there seems to be quite a lot of action going on in your family! Tell Susan and Beth congratulations. You take it easy now Mr. Turner! Tell your wife I said hi." Rose said as she made her way to Kaitlyn's apartment.
Before she could even knock, the door flew open. Sarah dashed out in front of her and ran down the hallway. David was soon to follow. "Give it back Sarah! Mama! Sarah took my…" David said as he ran to catch his sister. Kaitlyn popped out of the door, looking completely exhausted.
"David! Sarah!" she yelled, but they were too busy chasing each other to hear their mother. "I swear, when I get my hands on those two…oh, hello Rose. I'm sorry, I didn't see you there. Come on in."
"You sure do have some early risers! They never seem to stop. They have so much energy." Rose said as she walked into the apartment.
"Yeah, I don't know how they do it. They can stay up all night long and yet they still wake up at 6:00 am every morning with a rush of energy. I'm absolutely exhausted! I barely got any sleep last night due to the fact that I had a 5 year old who decided to pretend to be in the circus on Mommy's bed, at 2 in the morning." "Oh Kaitlyn! You really oughta take a break once in a while! How you do it, I guess I'll never know." "Oh trust me, when you've got your own kids, all this becomes a daily routine. No sleep, constant noise, doing nothing all day but cleaning up after them- it's enough to wear anyone out. At least David's in school now. Sarah starts school next year, which is a relief." The door swung open and it sounded like a stampede traveling through the apartment. "David, Sarah, come here right this minute! David, you get ready for school and Sarah you still need to get dressed- look at you! You're still in your pajamas! Dear Lord, what will I ever do with you two? Come on…" Kaitlyn said as she led them to their room to change. Rose followed, holding Sarah's hand. "Oh Rosie! Guess what I did yesterday?" Sarah asked as Rose slipped a clean dress over her head.
"What?"
"I drew a picture of an elephant and Mommy took me to the park to play on the slide! Wanna see my drawing?"
"I sure would!"
Sarah ran to her dresser and pulled out her drawing. She was so proud of her work. Rose noticed that the elephant was bright purple and she laughed. Sarah sure did have an imagination!
"That's fantastic!"
"Thank you. I used my new colors on it."
Later that day, Rose and Kaitlyn had decided to go out for lunch. They had left Sarah with Mrs. Murphy downstairs. Mrs. Murphy loved both Sarah and David and was always willing to watch them, since her husband had died many years ago and she never had had any children of her own.
"Kaitlyn, my wedding anniversary is coming up and I haven't the slightest idea what to get Jack. I was kinda hoping that you might be able to give me some ideas."
"Well, lets see now. Well first of all, what is Jack interested in? What are some of his hobbies or interests?"
"Well, he loves art, he likes to travel, he's kind of the out door type. Oh, I don't know! What do men like?"
"Well, he seems like quite a guy! It's always good to find something that has a special meaning to him. Something that would really mean a lot to him. Most men like to go to baseball games, or sit around the house doing nothing all day, but Jack seems to be different. He has a lot of different interests, which will make it much easier on your part. Think of something real sincere. If he likes art, you could take him to an art show. If he likes traveling, take him somewhere on a vacation. If he likes the great outdoors, take him to the mountains and stay in a little log cabin somewhere where you can curl up by the fire. Find something that first of all, would appeal to him and second of all, he knows that it came right from the heart."
"Wow, thanks. I think I know exactly what I'm going to get him. Man, has it really been one year? It feels like I just met him yesterday."
"How did you two meet?"
"Well, we met on the Titanic- of all places. He just seemed to understand me so well. He looked deep into my soul and somehow saw hope in me I guess. He made me understand what it was really like to live and to love. For the first time in my whole life, I felt that someone really cared for me. I felt so safe near him. When Titanic sank, I thought that we were both going to die. There had only been enough room in the lifeboats for half of the passengers, so they only let women and children on. Jack tried to put me in a boat, but I refused. We ended up in the freezing water after Titanic disappeared into the depths of the ocean. It was the worst experience of my life! Here I was, freezing to death with 1500 other innocent people, knowing that these were probably my last moments. It just kept on getting quieter, and quieter. Finally, one single lifeboat returned, but it was too late. Jack and I were saved from the water, along with 5 other people, but 1500 other people were now dead. 700 Passengers had been saved out of 2200. So many women were widowed and so many young children were orphaned. To think here I am 1 year later married to the most wonderful man on earth. God really is watching over me."
Tears were now threatening Kaitlyn as she listened so intently to Rose. "Oh Rose, I had no idea! You two sure have been through a lot. If you ever just need someone to just talk to, you know I'm always there for you."
"I know Kaitlyn, thank you. Well, enough about me, what about you? How did you and James meet?"
"Well, let's see. I guess it all started when my father moved the whole family out to the countryside in 1903. We lived a few miles from a lake; it was a real nice little town. My mother became a really good friend with Margaret Vanbeek, James's mother. I was constantly over there and after a few years, James and I became more than just friends. We would go on long picnics together in the woods or he would take me around the lake in his rowboat. He was always there to cheer me up on a gloomy day or help me through the rough times. He was so romantic. I guess he just swept me off my feet. By the time I was eighteen, I was married to the love of my life."
"Wow, that's so sweet. I guess fate has its ways, huh?" Rose smiled as Kaitlyn nodded. Rose looked at her watch. It was 4:15! "Oh dear! It's already 4:15! Jack's going to be home in less than 20 minutes and I still haven't even started dinner yet!" Rose said as they quickly paid for their meal and dashed back home.
"I can't believe we spent 3 hours just chatting! Poor Mrs. Murphy, left to take care of David and Sarah all by herself!" Kaitlyn said as she and Rose ran up the stairs to their apartments.
"Yeah well, I guess I'll talk to you later. You have a good night Kaitlyn. Relax!"
"Thanks, I'll try."
As Rose opened the door to the apartment, the wonderful aromas that filled the house surprised her.
"Jack? Are you home?"
"Yes dear. Where were you? I was worried sick!"
"Oh Jack, I'm so sorry. Kaitlyn and I went out and I guess we just lost track of time. What ya cookin'?" she said as she carefully inspected the kitchen.
"Oh, just a little somethin'. I got off work early today so I decided to come home and give you a chance to relax. You girls are really somethin' else. How you can just talk about the same stuff every day beats me."
Rose laughed then sorted through the mail that was sitting on the counter. There was a blank envelope at the bottom of the stack. Rose immediately opened it to read the contents inside. Her face turned pale as she read the note. Blackness…
Chapter 2
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