As some of you are asking who Zoe is here is a recap. Zoe lost her husband some months ago and just before he died, they had booked a trans-Atlantic cruise on the Carnival legend which is where I met her. She had tried to have other family members sail but due to various constraints, they could not join her and here then she was, alone and so very sad and regretting her decision to cruise on her own. So, there we sat, on Deck 2 forward, a skimmed milk cappuccino for me and a green tea for Zoe and for the next 20 minutes, she opened up to me and told me about her sadness and I will see if I can do what she said, justice. I know I can write about underpants and bottoms but I am not sure I can even come close to writing about the hurt Zoe still feels. Oh, and I do so with her permission, of course. When someone you love passes away, Zoe explained, what you forget is the sound of their voice. Their image you can still see in photos, but the conversation has stopped. They can’t hear you, and you long to hear them. Zoe said goodbye to her husband Keith as he headed out of the door to ride his beloved Harley Davidson to visit a friend, Zoe drove to work. This ordinary family parting was their last. Aged just 53, he was killed driving the motorbike he loved so much. He was rushed to hospital that morning but, sadly, he never regained consciousness. Her routine day at work was interrupted by a summons to the hospital where she had to make a decision about the death of the love of her life. “I made him breakfast. We kissed goodbye, then he wasn’t there anymore,” Zoe told me. At the hospital she said she needed Keith, as never before, but he was gone. But, not completely gone. After an all-night vigil by his side in the ICU, she returned to their home, the same home that was now dark and empty and she sat waiting for her son to arrive from Tampa where he served as a police officer. It was already a very emotional experience for both Zoe and me and, obviously, I was aware that many guests were walking around, some seeing me started to head over to say hello but mercifully they all saw and probably felt the seriousness of our conversation and so we were left alone and I continued to listen to Zoe speak. So there she sat, in the dark and eventually her son arrived and they cried together before heading back to the hospital where after discussions with the doctors and almost exactly 24 hours after she had said goodbye to Keith as he mounted his motorbike, she made the decision to turn off the machines that were keeping Keith alive and she held his hand as he peacefully slipped away. Zoe was crying as she told me this and, as I mentioned, so was I. I suggested to Zoe that we go somewhere more private than Promenade Deck 2, more for me than her if I am honest but as she wiped the tears away Zoe said, “Don’t worry about me, I’ve lost any sense of pride about crying in public.” It certainly wasn’t my place to tell her to “move on” because Zoe didn’t want that. No, moving away and gradually forgetting the person she most passionately wants to remember was not what was needed to be said. And so not knowing what to say, I simply listened. But then I managed to change the subject to her reason for staying which is simple. The reason has a name, or names, actually, and they are Alice, Sandra, Loretta and Bernadette. These are the four widows who answered my unusual announcement for help and who have, these past two nights, welcomed Zoe to their dinner table and who yesterday played cards together, laughed at the silliness of Calvyn and my game show together and who in Bermuda today will be exploring the island………together. I am so thankful to these four angels who have taken a stranger into their group. Zoe is grateful to them beyond measure and told me that without them she would have been sitting on a plane heading back to her empty house. I am looking after them and with the help of my colleagues we are making sure they are unashamedly spoiled. And now Zoe and three of those ladies she met and who turned her lif around in such a positive way are back with us here on the Miracle. Zoe looks great and has a new job and of course best friends for life in the ladies she now spends this Alaskan cruise with. Meeting Zoe again was in one word.................. rejuvenating wywh
Posted on: Wed, 02 Jul 2014 22:06:47 +0000
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