Titanic – The Beginning

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Titanic.

Titanic is where this whole thing began. Before Billy and I knew we were meant for each other, before my life took the best and most unexpected turn, before I was old enough to fathom going on any of these adventures, there was the Titanic.

When I was a kid, maybe 6 or 7, I got a book for Christmas about shipwrecks. I loved to read and I devoured books (not much has changed there), and for some reason, this book fell into my lap. Of all of the shipwrecks in it, the Titanic captivated me. To this day, I can’t put my finger on what exactly it is. The era, the style, the grandeur, the people, the absolute tragedy of it all? I don’t know. I only know that it has me.

Fast forward to 2009.

I was turning 21 in May and my then in-laws (yes, I had married very young) wanted to take me to Vegas to celebrate. The Luxor had a Titanic exhibit (and still does if you’re interested: https://luxor.mgmresorts.com/en/entertainment/titanic.html ) that I desperately wanted to see. I got online to look up the ticket prices and the first thing I saw was an ad at the top of the Google search for something called the Titanic Memorial Cruise. Intrigued, I clicked. That one click changed so much in my life. I had stumbled upon the trip of my childhood dreams; a cruise that was to retrace the steps of the Titanic on its fateful voyage, to commemorate those that were lost at sea, 100 years later in 2012.

When I excitedly told my husband about it, he wasn’t very keen on the idea.

I vowed to pay for the whole trip myself (which I had no idea how I would do) and that he wouldn’t have to add a penny. He finally agreed and we booked tickets. We booked the tickets 3 years in advance (which was smart because it sold out 6 months later), and I had no idea how different my life would be by the time I boarded that ship.

I was divorced and starting a new relationship with Billy by the end of the summer of 2010. We were still in the beginning stages of our relationship, when about 6 months in, I started a conversation that went something like this:

Lydia: Hey, so, um…I’ve got this trip thing coming up in April 2012.
Billy: OK?
Lydia: Yeah, it’s kind of a big deal to me, and I booked the tickets when I was still married, so I have 2.
Billy:…OK?
Lydia:…So it’s this Titanic cruise thing that is for the 100th anniversary, and you don’t have to pay for the ticket or anything, but it sails out of England, and I thought we could go a week early and see some stuff and thought maybe you’d want to go with me? (Yes, imagine an incredibly awkward ramble and it’s like you were there)
Billy: You want me to go on a free cruise and go to England for a while?
Lydia:…………yes…………..
Billy: Uh, yeah, that sounds amazing!
Lydia: (sigh of absolute relief)

To this day, I still have no idea how I managed to pay for that trip.

I scrimped and saved and worked a million odd jobs, but I did it. And that cruise was the most incredible thing. It was like being in a floating college. We went to 2-3 lectures a day on topics from the history of the ship to myths surrounding it, family stories from descendants of people who had survived, and stories from those whose ancestors hadn’t. It was the most touching and moving experience of my life, and I wouldn’t trade it for the world.

There was some backlash from people who thought the cruise was tasteless or immoral, but I can tell you that it was beautiful and heartfelt. There were many families on board who finally got closure to a tragedy that had scarred their family for the last 100 years. That’s something you can’t take away from them now. What we all experienced together, what we learned, the people we got to know, that’s priceless.

And that was the beginning. That’s how it all got started. The Titanic. One magnificent ship and absolute tragedy that captured my heart as a child.
~Lydia