An 85-year old woman living in the shadows of the new Yankee Stadium opted for a complete knee-replacement surgery on the condition that she would be well in time to see her beloved Yankees in their new home. Now all she needs is a seat.
Darvine Noel resides on Ogden Avenue and has lived there since 1972. She had surgery on February 9. She had the operation at New York-Presbyterian Hospital after five falls within two years left her right knee badly injured.
While she missed opening day, her daughter Elizabeth Noel-Cushenberry said the number-one reason her mother agreed to have the surgery was that she wanted to go see the Yankees play in their new home. Darvine Noel is a die-hard fan.
“She was nervous about the operation, and went through with it because of hopes of going to the new Yankee Stadium,” Noel-Cushenberry said. “She wants to come in and see the games. For the last few years she was concerned about maneuvering her way through the stadium due to her knee condition.”
Noel-Cushenberry describes her mother as a lifelong Yankee fan who can tell anyone who will listen everything about her team.
“My mother has been a Yankee fan forever,” Noel-Cushenberry said. “When my kids were little they would come up from Washington D.C. and my mother would take them to Yankee Stadium. Even in during the last couple of years she has watched the games on TV.”
Noel-Cushenberry said her mother’s favorite player is Derek Jeter. Darvine Noel thinks that Jeter is a clean-cut young man and she admires his family. She likes Jeter’s mannerisms.
“She’s followed his whole career,” Noel-Cushenberry said. “She was sad when Joe Torre left.”
Noel-Cushenberry said her mom has her own philosophy about the Yankees. This includes absolute devotion to her team, even when they are on a losing streak.
“My mother was sad about the Yankees missing the playoffs last year,” Noel-Cushenberry stated. “She watched the playoffs on TV last year but would not root for another team.”
When she gets out of a physical rehabilitation clinic in mid-April, Noel hopes to head to the stadium.
She also hopes to return to her weekly visits to the Daughters of Israel Senior Center and spend Christmas with her daughters family in Washington D.C. Darvine Noel prides herself on being very independent.
“She is curious about the New Yankee stadium, and about what will happen to the old stadium,” Noel-Cushenberry said. “She has been following the development of the new stadium. But she doesn’t know what a Skybox is.”
