The picture that means so much
Daisy White owes a lot to her friends. Here she shares their story...
‘We’d swap shifts to be together’
stepping off the plane, icy air hit my face. all around me were snow-capped mountains and pine trees, and baggage handlers hurriedly stacking cases. This was it — my new life as cabin crew, and I couldn't have been happier.
‘Let’s get a snap of our first flight!’ one of my new colleagues suggested. So the four of us huddled together, each of us with matching smiles.
Growing up, I’d been desperate to do two things – become a writer and travel. I knew the first one might not be quite that simple, so after finishing school, I decided to focus on seeing the world.
global adventures
Applying to work as cabin crew seemed like a great way to do that. So I started training with Monarch Airlines, based at Gatwick Airport. It was so rigorous and demanding, harder than any schoolwork I’d done.
At times I wanted to give up, but I pushed through and, aged 19, I qualified. I worked for Monarch for a few months before moving to start-up airline Astraeus.
Having perfected my make-up, hair and uniform, my heels clicked as I made my way to the briefing at the airport for my first flight with Astraeus.
I found myself in a room with three other women, Sanita, Charmaine and Gemma, my new colleagues. I’d never met them before, but I could tell they were just like me – full of excitement and nerves!
‘You’re going to Innsbruck today,’ our supervisor told us, passing us the passenger list. The next few hours passed in a blur, but I loved every second, from laughing with the girls, as we struggled with the drinks trolley, to looking out of the window and seeing the city getting bigger.
Posing for that photo, our friendship was cemented. From then on the four of us became a little team. We’d always try to swap shifts to be on the same flight.
Working on long-haul flights was when the fun really began. During layovers we’d have some of the best adventures. We travelled around the Caribbean visiting markets, we swam outdoors in Iceland, despite the freezing temperatures, and drank vodka oranges into the early hours on rooftop bars in Tel Aviv.
Flights last 10 or 12 hours and, during that time, we’d all talk about our life plans.
Sanita talked about wanting to set up a beauty business, Gemma wanted to go to university and start a family, Charmaine wanted to be a comedian, and I was desperate to be an author. ‘I want to write crime books,’ I told them one day. ‘But it’s not going to happen!’ Only, my friends wouldn’t listen to my doubts. From then on, they’d insist that on every flight, during my break, I write a short story on a napkin.
As the years passed we were always each other’s biggest champions. We were all so excited when Gemma left to pursue her dreams in another career, then after a year, Charmaine began her comedy
‘We decided to focus on our dreams’
career with a slot at a festival in Prague. But it wasn’t until six months later that Sanita and I handed in our notice. I moved to Plymouth where my fiancé’s flying job was based, but Sanita and I were colleagues once again when we started working for British Airways together a year later.
Starting a family
When I got married in May 2006, I was so happy Sanita could be there. My son James was born in July 2008, followed by Ollie in February 2010. By now, Sanita was a mum too, and godmother to Ollie, so we’d meet up as often as we could to have days out with the kids. Whenever we did, Sanita would remind me that I had to keep writing.
We both worked at British Airways for seven years before deciding to focus on our dreams. We waved to the camera as we set off on our last trip from Gatwick to Bermuda. And after we got back home, I moved to Brighton with my family and Sanita moved to Wiltshire to set up her beauty business.
With all of us so spread out, it would have been easy to drift apart, but we were still there for each other. We loved going to watch Charmaine perform at the Brighton and Edinburgh Fringe, and Sanita and I chatted away most nights on the phone, swapping motherhood tips. Yes, months would pass between seeing each other, but when we did meet it was like we were those grinning new recruits again. Of course, I wanted to write, but being busy with the children it wasn’t easy. Sanita, though, would have none of that. ‘You’ve got to do it,’ she’d tell me. ‘Make the time.’ So I listened!
I started writing as often as I could, staying up late or while I was waiting to pick the boys up from school. And, despite being rejected more times than I care to remember, in March 2017 I got my first big break. A publisher agreed to sign me on a four-book deal.
A new life of crime!
‘We told you so,’ Sanita and Charmaine teased as we celebrated over champagne. Since then, I’ve released two crime books as part of The Ruby Baker Mysteries series, set in Brighton in the 1960s. And Charmaine appeared in a trailer to advertise a published short story collection of mine called The Coffeebreak Crime Collection. I owe so much to my friends. It was those girls in the photo who kept me going, right from the scribbling on napkin days. They made me feel like it was worth following my dreams, and it’s even better that they’ve fulfilled theirs too.