The Closing of a Door...

The end of an era...

Millvina Dean died today.

It seems strange to type those words.

She was 97 years old and, more importantly, the last survivor of the Titanic. She was only a few months old and, of course, remembered nothing. She was born two days before my father! It could have been him... well, except for the fact that they lived HERE instead of THERE, and his parents could never have afforded such a trip if they DID live THERE instead of HERE...

but again, I digress... I seem to do that a great deal lately...

Her mother and brother survived, but her father told her mother he would see her shortly and did not. I have a copy of the last picture taken of the ship signed by her.

As you know, (or not), I have always loved the Titanic story, LONG before the rather stupid movie (except for the special effects, which were awesome). My second grade children and I had already had lengthy discussions before the movie arrived, and we had some more after they saw it.

No.. Jack and Rose weren't real.

No... no one was chasing anyone around the decks of the (then) swiftly sinking ship shooting at anyone else.

Yes.. if you would die in the water outside the ship you wouldn't survive running around in it INSIDE the ship for very long either.

Yes.. The radio operator (and they loved this) said (morse code) "shut up, shut up, I'm busy" when being told about the California shutting down for the night because of icebergs.

and so on.

The definitive movie was "A Night to Remember" from 1958 and it's predecessor, "Titanic" ,from 1953, had a great cast.

But either way, the event will live on forever.

Only the last witness is gone.