April 12 - Goodbye to my friend

I’m in Incheon, Korea and we’re getting ready to sail after being here for two days.  I’ll write about my time here and in Seoul another day.  

Today I want to say goodbye to my friend and dancing partner Helga.  She passed away today in a hospital here in Incheon.  I met her last year on my voyage to Antarctica and the Amazon.  She was in the Club every evening after the show and we stayed and danced until the music stopped, she more than I.  When she heard that some of us were doing this voyage she booked it too and she joined the Odyssey on February 6, a couple of weeks after I did.  We took some tours together, played trivia on the same team, dined together and did a lot of dancing.  We had some testy times as friends sometimes do, but the last couple of weeks we had been enjoying one another’s company again.  We both caught whatever it is that half the ship has, but it hit Helga particularly hard.  A couple of nights ago while I was in the restaurant they called the medical team to what I knew was her cabin.  The Guest Services people couldn’t give me any information that night.  Yesterday morning I asked the Hotel Manager how she was and I was told that Helga was in the ship’s medical center and was being taken off the ship to go to a hospital here in Incheon.  I went down there and I was able to see and talk to her.  Helga being Helga told me she would be back soon.  I didn’t think that would happen but I figured I’d be seeing her on another cruise sometime in the not-so-distant future.  When I left I told her “Auf Wiedersehen,” until I see you again.

Yesterday afternoon I asked if there was any information on how she was doing and evidently she was stable.  I came back from my tour this afternoon and went to get a drink and the Hotel Manager saw me and came over. I asked about Helga and she gave me the news that she passed away today.  To say I was shocked is an understatement.  I feel as though I’ve lost a relative because I’ve spent more time with her in the last year than most relatives.  So today I just want to say goodbye to my dancing friend Helga.  I’ll miss her every time I walk into the Club and every time I hear any song from ABBA because she loved their music.  It just won’t feel the same.  Auf wiedersehen, Helga.