Memories of Titanic

I first heard about the great Titanic when I was about three years old, going on four. I was playing with my toys when my brother came to get me and told me there was a story about the Titanic on the news. I didn't know what the Titanic was so I asked him. He told me the Titanic was a large ship that struck an ice berg and sank. The information was enough to grab my attention, and I followed my brother into the living room.

I remember standing in front of the TV where a man, whom I came to know as Robert Ballard, came on and said that he and his crew had found the sunken luxury liner Titanic. I listened to the story told of the great ship and was awed by it. I was sad that so many people had died. The news report had affected me so profoundly that I had a dream about it that night.

I was on the boat deck, a very young girl traveling all alone, and I was the only one who knew the fatal accident awaiting the Titanic. The sun was going down and the air was growing bitterly cold. The time was coming when the Titanic would collide with a large ice berg and sink to the bottom of the ocean.

I was scared at first, realizing I was the only one who could save the ship. I needed to tell someone what was going to happen, but I didn't know who would believe me, a child, if anyone. Still, I knew I needed to try. I ran around to various adults on the ship and told them what was going to happen. They didn't believe me, of course, and instead, wondered who would leave such a young girl alone.

As I ran around the boat deck, I kept hearing the same whispered phrases: "Is she traveling alone?" and "Why aren't her parents with her?" This didn't matter to me. At first I cared that I was alone but now I had a mission. I had to, somehow, get to the captain and tell him what I knew. I don't know how I did it, but I managed to get to the wheel deck and alert the captain well in advance. I was surprised that he listened to me and in doing so, saved the ship. The Titanic was safe and sound and would make her intended destination in New York.

Since that day in September of 1985, I have been fascinated with the Titanic and the story behind her. I continue to be in awe how man could have built a ship so large it seemed like she could not sink. Yet, today, ninety-four years later, she lies in darkness at the bottom of the Atlantic.

So many questions continue to surround the Titanic, cloaking her in a shroud of mystery. Everyone will always wonder the truth about that night. Perhaps my own wonders of the night, the great ship, and the circumstances thereof are the reasons for my fascination. I cannot be certain. What I am certain of is that Titanic and its passengers, those lost and those saved, will always have a place in my heart.