George
had been the son of wealthy merchants, who had made their fortune trading silks
and cotton for clothing manufacturing. The youngest of three, he had not been
expected to inherit the company. But he was expected to behave with a certain
conduct. George, however, constantly managed to disappoint their expectations.
He had grown up a meek and sickly child, who preferred hiding between the
shelves of libraries than playing sports outside. At the boarding school he
attended—a decision made by his father for the sake of “making something out of
him”—he had been unpopular amongst his peers, and even his older brothers had
the habit of messing with him. Though this might torment and bother anyone
else, George never minded it. Instead, he dedicated himself to his studies and
surpassed all in mathematics and sciences. And at the age of 18 (in 1950),
George applied to department of Physics in the University of Oxford. Yes, while
his two older brothers went to study economics and politics, George was to
study particle physics. When CERN was built in 1954, George had set his mind on
working there. But first, he would have to complete the rest of his studies,
and of course get hired.
On the day George heard the news of
the opening of CERN, Linda was not the least bit concerned about what was
happening with the rest of the world. Instead, she was more concerned with the
hem of her dress. She had been invited to attend a party at schoolmate’s
mansion. But because of her family’s exceedingly lower economic status, the
dress she had been able to attain was in fact too large for her small frame,
and sagged at her bust and hung in an awkward length—half way across her
chins. It was not long enough to be
considered a long dress, but it did not hang just at the knees like all the
other girls’.
Linda was the oldest daughter in a
family of six kids. The task of caring for her brothers and sisters had been
solely hers, as her father toiled away in a steel factory and her mother worked
as a cleaning lady for a wealthy American family. During the war, her whole
family had moved from Madrid to Connecticut. As most immigrants, they had hoped
to find their fortune in America. And as most found out soon enough, jobs were
unforgiving, and discrimination was still prevalent. As a young child, Linda
led her five younger siblings through countless adventures and took sole responsibility
for any mishaps that occurred along the way—and there were plenty. She was
loyal to her younger brothers and sisters, and scolded them harshly to avoid
them getting scolded by their often angry father. But on the night she turned
18, Linda snuck a letter underneath her siblings’ pillows and, through a back
door, left her family behind. It had not been an easy task, but the second
oldest child—a brother—was already 15, and she knew he was quite capable of
leading the rest. At the age of 18, Linda was already set on living some great
adventure, and she would document it all in an old notebook she had found
thrown out. So with ten dollars in her pocket, she bought a train ticket bound
for New York City. It was then, as it is now, a place many young people felt
would determine their success or not.
It is important to note that George and Linda's paths had almost crossed before.....