| "My mother and I were two of almost two thousand
passengers looking forward to a swift, comfortable voyage to Liverpool,
but most of us would never get there." "For my mother, the answer was simple. She wanted desperately to go home to England to have her baby -- even though she was prone to sea sickness and a non-swimmer." "Wednesday, May 5th . . . I was told by the ship's doctor that I had measles and must be sent to quarantine." "Taut but strangely calm, my mother voiced her fear that we would never reach the upper decks. But she bundled me into makeshift clothing and we made for our cabin door . . . My mother's advanced state of pregnancy made the situation doubly difficult . . . it was strangely quiet except for the muffled shouts and cries filtering down to us from the upper decks." "My mother held me tightly as we stood at the ship's rail until the deck under our feet was awash. Then, moments later, we were torn apart . . ." |