This morning, I awoke around 7 o'clock. (I think docking the ship may have awakened me. Mom later reported that the ship rocked pretty hard right before we docked.) I dragged myself out from under the covers and readied myself to “debark” the ship. I allowed my daughter to sleep in until after I was showered, dressed, and had a glass of orange juice from the upstairs cafeteria.
On shore, Anne and I walked the streets of Key West's port to find a couple of our favorite shops from our first visit here. We also stopped to have a glass of soda while my daughter ate a slice of key lime pie in the Florida Keys. After pie, we decided to walk through a tiny indoor mall. (I think there were all of ten shops.) This is where my daughter decided to spend some of her own money.
Anne walked into one of the stores to poke around. I dutifully followed. The lady working there approached me to ask if we needed help. She had a marked accent, but I had trouble placing it before she told me: French. I do not know what it was about this lady, but we made an almost instant connection and somehow I wound up talking to her about my husband's infidelity. A former soldier's wife, herself, we had a very good talk about certain nationalities' predatory women, like the one who latched herself onto my husband, and what they are really after.
I am amazed at how the Lord puts so many people in my way to talk to me when I really need to talk.
On our way back to the ship, souvenirs in hand, I stopped to take my daughter's picture in front of our ship. It is almost exactly the same shot as on our very first cruise. Our ship is even docked in the same slip. The only difference now is that her dad was not taking our picture together. We would be taking each others' pictures alone. Memories from years ago came flooding back to me and I missed my husband horribly. I wished he could be there with us the way that he was six years ago, when last we photographed each other at this very pier.
After re-boarding the ship, we dumped our things in our cabin and went upstairs to get something to eat. The whole family was there, in pairs, but we wound up getting together in time to share our days. Then most of us went to watch the belly flop competition. Somehow, we were able to secure lounge chairs beside each other. Days later, I would see a video shot of all of us sitting beside each other in the “Cruise in Review” DVD created for all the ship's passengers. Now, hundreds of people unknowingly have a piece of my mini-miracle day on their copies of the DVD.
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| Key Lime in Key West |
Anne walked into one of the stores to poke around. I dutifully followed. The lady working there approached me to ask if we needed help. She had a marked accent, but I had trouble placing it before she told me: French. I do not know what it was about this lady, but we made an almost instant connection and somehow I wound up talking to her about my husband's infidelity. A former soldier's wife, herself, we had a very good talk about certain nationalities' predatory women, like the one who latched herself onto my husband, and what they are really after.
I am amazed at how the Lord puts so many people in my way to talk to me when I really need to talk.
On our way back to the ship, souvenirs in hand, I stopped to take my daughter's picture in front of our ship. It is almost exactly the same shot as on our very first cruise. Our ship is even docked in the same slip. The only difference now is that her dad was not taking our picture together. We would be taking each others' pictures alone. Memories from years ago came flooding back to me and I missed my husband horribly. I wished he could be there with us the way that he was six years ago, when last we photographed each other at this very pier.
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| Eric with Anne |
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| Dad with me |
As I was lining up the shot, I heard a man's voice, “Move.” I did not think to question what kind of person would walk up to a complete stranger and say, “Move.” I just moved so I could continue lining up my shot.
Familiar laughter trickled into my consciousness. It was my brother, Eric's. There he was with my dad. They were also just about to re-board the ship and had seen us. I made Eric stand in the picture with Anne. My dad stood with me for my photo. What perfect timing! Was it coincidence, luck or mini-miracle that just as I was missing my husband's presence in my photos, my brother and dad should appear?
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