Good morning! It's a sunny, warm, calm day as we sail just offshore of Cuba. It's too far away to get a picture so you'll just have to take my word for it that in the distance I can see Santa Clara, Cuba. Oh, time out. We're just overtaking a little island hopping container ship. I'll get a picture.
I'm back. Yesterday evening the storm abated and the skies cleared. (Sounds almost Biblical doesn't it?) Unfortunately, I think we may have left a little late because by the time we sailed off I was in the dining room with some new friends. We were seated by a window but really all we could see were the lights of the cars on the causeway connecting Miami with Miami Beach.
Where does memory lane come into the picture? During the night I got up and we were doing some rocking and rolling, not bad but a little. When I got back in bed I started thinking and I remembered a cruise 31 years ago when we sailed from Miami and our first port was San Juan. It was the day after Thanksgiving and it was the first cruise we took Katie on. 1990 was a pretty big year for us. Al left public accounting on November 1 and started his career at Virginia Health Services. We had booked the cruise for the three of us before he changed jobs and he made sure there was no problem with him taking a vacation so soon after starting a new job. We had Thanksgiving dinner at my parents' home (it turned out to be the last Thanksgiving with my father). The next day we flew to Miami and boarded the Nordic Prince for a 10 day cruise. She was a Royal Caribbean ship that had been stretched and carried perhaps 650 passengers and of course had none of the amenities of today's vessels. But we thought she was grand.
Our first two days were at sea and it was sunny and warm as it is today, but on the second sea day the wind had picked up and we were heading into the seas. That afternoon we went up to an open deck space above the bridge and the spray from the waves came up that high, not soaking but more like a mist. I remember Katie standing there with a big grin on her face reveling in the wind and the spray. On cruises back then they still had passenger talent shows and Katie announced that she wanted to be in the show. Of course we agreed she could. She had been taking piano lessons for a few years already and she liked to sing. She and I went to the organizational meeting and there were some passengers who pooh-poohed the idea of a 10 year old participating but the cruise director didn't mind. When each participant was asked what they would do, Katie said she would sing Memory from Cats and accompany herself on the piano. (I wouldn't have had the courage to do that.) So the evening came when the show was to be held. It was a formal night and I shall always remember the dress she wore. It was a green girl's formal which my mother had made for her and it matched her beautiful eyes. Without even a little hesitation Katie sat down at the grand piano, adjusted the microphone, and sang and accompanied herself. It was a stunning performance for a 10 year old. I had tears in my eyes and as I looked around I saw other people did too. When she finished and took a little bow, she got a standing ovation! Al and I were so proud of her that evening as we would be many times in the years that came later. Katie, don't be embarrassed by my telling this story and I can practically see you rolling your eyes and saying to yourself "oh, mama." I think these kind of memories that sometimes just pop into our heads out of nowhere are what help us to realize we've lived full and wonderful lives each in our own way.
So enough of that. At noon we start a new round of trivia games with new teams. This afternoon our lecturer Laurel is giving a talk on "Rotgut, Riches, and Rebellion: How Rum Shaped American History." She's a very entertaining speaker so I plan to go. This evening I'm having dinner at the Cruise Director's table. He has a spectacular voice. Of course, he won't be serenading us at dinner.
That's all for now. I should go and read the encyclopedia or study something in the hopes of improving my trivia knowledge, but I think I hear a lounge chair in the shade calling my name. Guess what wins.
1 comment:
Tears in my eyes, too, and I don’t know Katie, but I have a feeling she got those genes from at least one of her parents—- and probably both! Have fun!
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