June 2, 2006  Friday

The ship today as a whole is a little off, and for very good reason.  A person I worked with in Damage Control those many months received some horrible news early this morning by way of a Red Cross message. His five year-old daughter died last night.

From what little I know she was ill for a long time.  Of course I don’t know him very well, even if he helped me with some work just last week. Near that time I saw him waiting for a computer, and with hindsight he must have known something was wrong. He was pretty tense.  He would always check his email several times a day, and each time I would notice his daughter’s picture would pop up, filling the screen.  She was pretty, with a huge smile. Worse, he can’t leave the ship for quite awhile, until we reach land.  How maddening.  To leave a little girl, not be able to be there at the end or even attend a funeral.

We are all down because we are seeing our worst fears playing out right in front of us.  In light of this I don’t know what news I have that is very important.  I meant to get on and write something as well about today and some things I did, but now it just seems inappropriate, especially with my casual writing style.