During and after the London Olympics 2012, I met some pretty awesome people online, mostly on Twitter (nope, not calling it X on here, kthxbye), who all were into the US Mens’ Swim Team in general and Ryan Lochte and Nathan Adrian in particular. The banter that ensued was hilarious, and well, we literally “clicked” – and not just that “Follow” button. One of these friends is Kayla, she lives half a world away from me in California, near San Francisco. And even though we live that far from each other, we are damn close. Thanks to social media and also Whatsapp. The friendship really started to grow in 2013, even more so when my ass headed to Barcelona for the FINA World Championships in swimming. Ah, the memories …
Ten years of “only” knowing each other online, and when the New England Patriots were announced to be one of the teams to play a game on German soil this January, we knew what we had to do. Namely, trying to get tickets to the game. She also asked if I thought the German Patriots Fans umbrella organization I am a member of might be able to get a share of tickets, and I said I’d keep her posted.
Well, obviously, tickets went flying left, right and center once they went on sale a couple of months ago, and neither her nor Yours Truly managed to get a hold of some.
However, she and her hubby had decided to plan their European adventure this year in time for the game, and tickets or no, we’d meet in Frankfurt. The plan was to hang out somewhere in a pub or whatever to watch the game with fellow fans. Little did we know what fate had in store for us …
Hotel rooms were booked, flights and trains, too, and we were ready to meet in real life for the first time, regardless of tickets to the game. This had been ten years in the making, after all!
Literally a week before the game, Thomas – he is the Founding Father of the abovementioned Pats Fans umbrella organization, henceforward referred to as PFG – contacted me if I was still interested in three tickets to the game as he and the rest of the Admin Team had been offered a good 70 tickets from the Patriots. I said I was going to contact Kayla about it, since she had asked about tix earlier this year. Mind, at this point, we had already decided to attend a watch party somewhere … I texted her that I could get tickets and if the two of them felt like going? I’d need to know asap, though.
Her reply a couple of hours later (also due to the time difference) was: “We’d like to go.”
I informed Thomas about it, and then the next day he asked me to call him again to finalize the deal, aka three tickets for us.
What the HELL had just happened?
A couple of weeks earlier, this seemed next to impossible, and now, all of a sudden, we were in the possession of three fucking tickets to the actual game!? Someone pinch me, please!
When Saturday comes … it was time to travel down to Frankfurt to meet with them to hang out, hand over some prezzies and, of course, the tickets which I had printed out, just. in. case. something doesn’t work at the turnstiles on Sunday. Better to be safe than sorry, right?
My hotel in Frankfurt was conveniently right across the road from the Central Station and a little walk away from their hotel, so we kept chatting via Whatsapp when and where we’d meet, but agreed on my coming to their hotel once I had checked in and sorted through my stuff and all. Said and done. I walked up to the reception desk and asked to contact Kayla to inform her and her hubby that I had arrived, because I couldn’t go up to their floor without a key card to start the elevator.
A bit of waiting, and they finally arrived in the lobby as well … and from then it was Hugs Galore. Kayla and I hugged for the longest time because this was LOOOOOOOOONG overdue, and, as I’ve said, “only” ten years in the making.
Here’s us in the lobby because we just HAD TO take a photo.
We went for a little pit stop in their hotel room, chatted a bit about this, that, and then some, and it felt so, so GOOD, y’all. So much also for my late Dad’s b/s that you cannot become friends with someone you know only online …
Then, we went to find something to eat, which was a burger place nearby, and it was a really fun evening.
Another pit stop in their hotel room, chatting, and then we parted ways for the evening because they were obviously a bit tired, since they had only arrived that very day from SF, and the next day meant PATRIOTS FOOTBALL!
But not just that … PFG had managed to organize a Fan March, from Alte Oper (Old Opera) via Central Station to the stadium. Meeting point was 10:30am at Alte Oper, so I picked them up at their hotel, brought my luggage into their room, and then we made our merry way to the starting point.
Let’s just say – the two of them were very impressed about what was going on. I don’t know HOW many Pats fans (mostly; but also some from different franchises) had gathered there, but dammit, folks … It was like a really HUGE family gathering, in a way, met some of the PFG folks I’ve known for a while, others I hadn’t met before, and all in all, it was fucking AWESOME what was going on. I mean … picture the scene: a HUGE crowd of Patriots fans marching down the streets in Frankfurt to Central Station (that poor thing didn’t know what had just hit it by the time we were done with it, haha), police closing off the streets we were walking on, and, on top of it all, we had a whole ass MARCHING BAND leading the way. “Sweet Caroline” and “Livin’ On A Prayer” included, iykyk.
That march alone already was worth it!
Once we were in the stadium, Kayla and I went to the merch stall (fortunately, the line wasn’t *THAT* long; something many people had reported from the game the week before), while her hubby went to the restroom, and we got ourselves some merch. I had promised a friend of mine who couldn’t make it there that I’d buy something for him, too, so I got two rally towels commemorating the game.
As for the game itself … well, my beloved Patriots SUCK this season, and that is still mildly put. Therefore, I didn’t even expect us to win there, and even if, we’d likely pull a W out of our backsides. Brutally honest? I didn’t even care that we lost 6-10 to the Indianapolis Colts AT ALL.
What mattered was that WE GOT TO BE THERE. Something that had seemed next to impossible a couple of weeks earlier suddenly had become a reality, thanks to the entire Admin Team of PFG (Thomas, btw, was given two tickets to the actual Super Bowl in Las Vegas, directly from the Pats – and if someone deserves those tix it’s him). I got to see my Patriots in person for the first time. Win, lose, or tie – I’m a Pats fan until I die! I got to be there with my friends. We could share the excitement of my first ever live NFL game. We got to sing along with the entire stadium when “Sweet Caroline”, “Take Me Home, Country Roads” and “Don’t Stop Believin'” were being played there. We had ourselves a fantastic time.
Memories that will for sure last for a lifetime.
Afterwards, we went back to their hotel to kill some time until I had to make my merry way to the bus stop as I was going back home via FlixBus that night. I was of no use on Monday, but that’s another story for another time. The two of them actually walked me there and stayed with me until said bus arrived. We hugged goodbye and know that next time, we won’t wait another ten years for our reunification, that’s for sure.
What I loved the most about this trip is that I managed to make it happen. The gratitude of Kayla and her hubby that I got those tickets for us, when we had already decided just watching somewhere in a pub would do. And gratitude is what I feel as well – that I was given the opportunity to be in the stadium to watch the game. That I clicked that “Follow” button on her Twitter account all those years ago, and that she followed me back. That I joined the PFG Facebook Group when Thomas pointed me in that direction back in the day when I had left a comment somewhere that I was getting into the Pats as “my” team.
I still smile when I think back of the Fan March.
I still smile when I remember the long hug Kayla and I shared the second we saw each other in the hotel lobby.
I still smile when I remember that particular weekend in November. Every second was SO worth it! Every. Single. Second.
Here’s to many more years of a friendship that started out so simple by following each other on social media. A friendship that had ups and downs and everything in between. A friendship of two people who live half a world apart from each other, but are very close. A friendship that has proven that distance doesn’t matter if you care about each other.
Looking forward to seeing you guys again soon …whenever it’ll be.
**********
pics: mine and Kayla
Ocean Soul 