At this time of year, my thoughts always turn to the QE2. Here is why.
On July 14th, 1976, my family set sail for Southampton, England travelling Tourist class (our cabins were on 2 deck). My father was a Treasury Advisor for the United Kingdom and sat on two United Nations committees, so we therefore travelled home to England every two years. Little did I know that this voyage would change my life forever!
We sailed for three days enjoying all the wonderful activities the ship had to offer; fine food, lectures, music, quizzes, games, the gymnasium and swimming pools. My mother, an avid bridge player, immediately joined a bridge group and there met two ladies from Chicago who were travelling with their children to France. The ladies got talking and discovered that I was the same age as one of the Chicago ladies' sons. The mothers schemed and decided that we should meet at the dinner hour and the son could introduce me to some of his friends. We were duly introduced and after dinner, I went with the son who did introduce me to several people, most of whom are not even a memory now. One person, however did stick out. A young man by the name of Evan Mathieson who was travelling from Winnipeg, Canada to England for a long holiday with his parents and brother. We got talking and before long we were walking on the deck (but not before the ship's photographer had snapped a picture of us on a staircase landing, C stairs I think it was, although my memories of the ship's layout are vague but it was the blue carpeted stairs with white banisters) and then we returned indoors due to the cold! Afterwards, I went to my cabin to change out of my dinner clothes (yes, we dressed up for dinner in those days) and then we went to a bar. We had a drink and talked (no rubbish about ID in those days!). Then we wandered some more and ended up in what was later called 'The Champagne Bar' beneath, I believe, the Columbia restaurant (where my family and I dined two years previously when we travelled first class). We then talked and talked and talked until about 2 am! At this point I tiptoed back to my cabin and quietly went to bed. We had three more days of blissful fun aboard ship before docking in Southampton. The relationship did not end there. We kept in touch while we were in England and then later when Evan went back to Winnipeg and I to New York. This Saturday, July 17th, we will be celebrating our 30th wedding anniversary! What I have not mentioned is the fact that I was 14 and Evan was 16 at the time of our meeting. So, to those skeptics out there, young love can and does last and shipboard romances do too!
Just a happy little tale to add to probably many others in QE2's long history.
