Is This Ship Cursed?

I try to be witty and funny and sarcastic in writing this blog.  But sometimes things beyond your control influence the way you think and deal with things.  So I am going to be very serious in this post.

A very wonderful gentleman, Jack Foster, died today at bridge.  I was no more than five feet away and watched it happen.  It was fast and without pain.  I will not go into the details, but will say that I am gravely affected by this.  The medical staff did everything they could to save him, but nature has a way of its own.  I was there when the doctor told Jennifer that her husband was dead.  I was there when the captain came down to hug Jennifer and pledge to do everything he could to make the return trip home as easy as possible.  I spent the day with Jennifer, who said she needed to stay strong.   I was there when she called her kids and told them that their dad was gone. 

The ship’s personnel have been outstanding in dealing with the difficult arrangements to repatriate the deceased and get the surviving spouse home.  They have a team ashore that makes these arrangements, including coordinating airlines reservations for a daughter to come from England to accompany her parents home.

Why should an almost complete stranger affect me so?  Sometimes it just clicks between people.  Jack and Jennifer were a lovely couple who were kind and full of discovery.  Jack spent a lot of time with me learning iPad.  He would ask if I had a moment so he could ask me a question.  I always had time for Jack.  He was inquisitive and full of wonder when discussing technical aspects of the iPad or of bridge.  He wanted to know the hows and whys of bidding something or how an app worked, and he always shared with me when something I suggested he try worked.  He was delighted when he “got it.”  He was a gentle soul who always had a smile, was polite and happy.  How could you not like someone like that?  He took such joy in life.  He died doing something he loved:  cruising and playing bridge.

We had a man taken off the ship in Panama for a heart attack (he is doing well).  We had a lady taken off the ship with abdominal pains in Panama.   We had another lady take a fall and went to the hospital in Tahiti; they refused to admit her with hairline fractures in her pelvis.  She was eventually removed from the ship.  Jack dies while playing bridge (not sure what, but I think his heart just stopped).  And later in the evening, there was another code as a lady fell in the elevator and perhaps broke her ankle.  The medical crew has been very busy.  Is this ship cursed?

We anchor in Tonga tomorrow morning, but it was decided that our next port, Fiji, would have a better airport to ship our friends home to England.  That is three days from now.  I am not sure how I would feel being away from my family if that happened to me.  For now, Jennifer is holding up and her friends will surround her until it is time to leave.  I think she is in shock, and it will not hit her for awhile as it was so sudden.

So, please remember to tell those people that are important to you that you love them, and do it everyday.  You never know when it is your last.