UNSINKABLE  

            They said it was unsinkable; little did they know! Mother always said there was only one thing in life that is truly unsinkable, and I tend to agree. This is my tale.  I am at the very end now, but let’s start at the beginning. I was born at sea. The ship on which that happened has now become a legend, and with pen in hand and paper clutched in creaking fingers, I tell my family’s story to you.

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                “Mum, why are we leaving?” Isabel asked for the third time that morning; she was

Always the curious one. Madeline looked at her daughter, tears starting to well up in her eyes. This had been her family’s home for longer than any of the children could have remembered. “It’s because we just received this letter from Papa,” Madeline answered as she pulled the letter out of her pocket and read:

Dear Madeline,

I know it has been a long time since you read my last letter, but I am pleased to tell you that my previous work in America has gone well and in this letter you should find eight tickets to America onboard the Titanic. I end my shift in the coal bunker at 1700 hours. Please meet me outside the boiler room; I have something I need to tell you and the children.

                                                                                                              With best wishes,

             Luke

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Twenty minutes later.

“The Titanic will leave in fifteen minutes!” announced the sailor on the dock.                                 “Come, children!” Madeline yelled, “Your father will be waiting on board, and we need to get on before the ship leaves!”

“Mother…Mother!”

“Oh, I’m sorry, Catherine, I can’t hear well over the ruckus. What did you say?”

“Where are we to stay?”  Catherine asked.

“In here,” Madeline answered as they all entered the room to see how meager the comforts of Third Class would be. Madeline looked around as the children scurried every which way.  Mathew and Elizabeth were jumping on the bed. Thomas was starting to look green; Isabel and her doll, Maggie, were on an expedition to find dust bunnies. John and Seth were playing tag, and Catherine was asking what was scurrying about the soot covered floor.

“Children!” Madeline yelled, and they all snapped to attention. “Catherine,” Madeline huffed exasperated, “I must go find your father. You’re in charge till I get back. Is that understood?” And with that, she left.

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“Luke!” Madeline called excitedly. “You have no idea how much I missed you.”

“Madeline,” said Luke in his deep warm voice, “did you have any difficulty boarding?”

“No, Luke, but do you have any time? All the children have wanted to see you.”

“At the moment I am doing nothing of importance. I would like very much to see them. Madeline, I

want our child to be born in America, I don’t want him to suffer the way we did.”

“Him?”

“The baby.”

“Luke, you know as well as I that the baby will be born in the place God has planned it to happen.”

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                “Papa!” cried all the children as they ran full-speed to hug him. Loving cries of, “We miss you!”

and “I love you, Papa!” filled the air. Luke played and told stories to them all day. That night, before Luke went to sleep,  he told the children a bedtime story about his adventures in America.

                “One day when I was in America, in a city called New York, I had no money to send to you, and I knew without it you would lose the home. I was desperate for something to send you, and I had just lost my job. I wandered the city for days, begging for work and picking money off the sidewalks until I couldn’t go any further. At last I met a man on the streets who was generous enough to give me money to pay for the house, one hundred dollars!” “Oos” and “aahhs” came from around the room, and the children’s eyes gleamed with excitement.

                “But that wasn’t the only thing: with the money; he also gave me this,” Luke took a piece of

yellowed paper out of his pocket and unfolded it. The words were written in scrawling calligraphy:

John 3:16

For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believeth in Him, should not perish but have everlasting life.

John14:6

Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life; no man cometh unto the father, but

by me.

2 Samuel 22:3

The God of my rock; in him will I trust: he is my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my high tower, and my refuge, my saviour ; thou savest me from violence.

2 Samuel 22:36

Thou hast also given me the shield of thy salvation: and thy gentleness hath made me great.

Luke resumed speaking, “It was interesting, and I wanted to hear more. I ran after the generous

man and we talked for hours, sitting on a sidewalk stoop.”

I asked him many questions, and he told me about a man named Jesus, who is God’s son, he came to earth and lived a perfect life, then died a horrible death, to pay for our sins. Then he rose from the grave after three days so we can live an eternal, everlasting life.”

All the children asked questions, and Madeline did too, but by twilight all the guests in the room had prayed this prayer in their hearts:

Dear Lord,

I know I am a sinner and that you suffered and bled on the cross for me. I ask that you would forgive my

sins and come into my heart. Thank you for saving me.

                                                                                                                                                In Jesus’ name, amen.

                Madeline and all the children remembered that night:  it was the night they changed their hearts

and minds. It was the night they kept nigh through all the trials of the future.

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Later that night.

“Ohhh!” Madeline groaned, and Luke woke immediately to find that the straw mattress was wet;

Madeline had gone into labor. The contractions were getting closer, five minutes, then three and so on.

Finally, it was time, one little miracle, a beautiful girl! Just then, Madeline gave a sharp cry.

“What is it, dear?” Luke asked frantically. Through the pain, she was able to manage a whisper,

“She wasn’t alone!” Madeline suddenly screamed through her clenched teeth. At once, Luke understood that she wasn’t alone; another miracle at this moment was entering the world! It all happened quickly, a

contraction, a groan, and then the face of a new life: another little girl, another mouth to feed, another

child to teach, another child to love.

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Two day’s later.

Both girls were pretty little things. The oldest had fine wisps of gold and the younger one,

A full head of shaggy brown hair the color of wet pine bark. Both had the same deep ocean-blue

eyes.

 It was evening, and all the children had flocked to the babies. “What shall we name them?” Madeline asked, her happiness seeming to radiate from her.

“Oooooo ooooo! I know what we should name her!” Isabel broke in.

“What do you think we should name her?” Luke asked.

“We should name her Naomi like from the Bible story Papa read us last night!” said Isabel, wide-eyed.

“Oooo, and then the other one should be Ruth.”

“What do you think, Madeline?” asked Luke, “Naomi and Ruth?”

“I think they’re beautiful, fitting names. Very well, Naomi and Ruth.”

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 Later that night.

                Craaack! “What happened?” All the children asked frantically.

“Mama, I’m scared.”

“ Father, what happened?”

“Mum, I hear water.”

“ Papa, the floor’s wet.”

Madeline was frantic. “Luke, didn’t the captain say this ship is unsinkable?”

“He did, but the ship is leaking. Gather the children. We need to go.”

“Papa, why are we running?” Isabel asked, “All the people are still in their rooms.”

“Those people are unwise,”  Luke exclaimed  “They don’t know how dangerous this is!”

“But Papa?” Seth asked, “People say this ship can’t sink.”

“They have no right to make that claim!” Luke huffed, exasperated. “Any boat can sink. Anyone can die. The unexpected will happen, and we need faith to get us through this.”

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“Luke!” Madeline gasped, “Look at all these people!” On the deck were hundreds of people, all

wanting to survive this night with the number of boats far less than needed to do so.

Isabel tugged on Luke’s hand, “Papa, I don’t think everyone can fit on those boats.”

Luke’s face turned white as marble, “I think you may be right.”

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                “The captain said the men must stay,” Luke said, struggling to stay calm. “I love you, and if this

 sacrifice ensures your survival, I will do so gladly.”

He hugged his children, told them all that he loved them, then glanced down at the peaceful little creatures in Madeline’s arms

“Take care of them well.”

“I will,” Madeline said, breathing hard.

“Go,” whispered Luke, as he escorted her, and the children to the life boats then kissed Madeline one last

time.

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“Papa! Papa!” All the children screamed as they saw the Titanic sink.

 “Luke,” Madeline sighed quietly, taking it in that her husband of twenty-one years was dead, or dying, drowning in the icy depths of the Atlantic. In his last days, she and Luke had made songs out of Bible verses he had already memorized. One of them came to her mind and it comforted her, she muttered it softly and thought of Luke running like a boy on streets of gold, singing out his joy to his king, to his savior.

Revelation 22:5

And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the lord God giveth them light: and they shall reign for ever and ever.

 A tear slid down Madeline’s face.  Suddenly reminded of the children’s presence, she sang softly, trying to soothe their grief, and through the night the boat rang out in peaceful song:

When peace, like a river, attendeth my way,

When sorrows like sea billows roll;

Whatever my lot, thou has taught me to say

It is well, it is well, with my soul!

It is well, with my soul

It is well, it is well, with my soul.

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That night 1,347 men died. My own father died to save my life, at least that’s what they tell me. My name is Ruth, Ruth O’Brian, and I was born on the Titanic. My one-hundred and first birthday is in three weeks and my mother, Madeline has long since passed away.  My faith still stands, even though iron and wood were destroyed in the ocean; true faith in Christ is unsinkable.