Day 126

At around 10pm on April 14, 1912, the RMS Titanic struck an iceberg. It sank approximately two miles to its grave at the bottom of the Atlantic, during the early hours of April 15, claiming over 1500 lives.

I can remember being fascinated with the initial images from National Geographic, some 27 years ago. I was just a child, and knew nothing about the disaster, but it captivated me. I knew it was something important.

As I grew, I began to learn about some of the stories of Titanic's passengers. The story that has always touched my heart the most was of the Straus'.

Mr. Isidor Straus and his wife, Ida, were an older couple traveling to New York from Southhampton. He was 67, she was 63. Mr. Straus was the son of Lazarus Straus (yes, as in Levi's), and in his adulthood, became the owner of Macy's.

During the panic on the deck of the Titanic, the Straus' attempted to board lifeboat number 8. Ida got into the boat, but Isidor was denied. When she discovered that her husband could not join her, Ida got out of the boat and said to her husband, "Where you go, I go." They walked to a pair of deck chairs and waited, together, to be claimed by the sea. His body was recovered, hers never was.

Their lives may have ended a century ago, but their story lives on. This was a real love story. Real people. Real lives lost.

I can understand why she climbed out of that lifeboat. To her, the thought of living without him was worse than death. She made her choice. Some people would say she was courageous, but I'd be willing to bet that she wouldn't think she was brave. She simply chose to do what was right; what was natural to her. She chose to stand by her husband's side until the end, just as she'd promised him she would.


I love you. I miss you. Please be safe, my love, and remember, wherever you go, I am with you. Goodnight.