Christine Comyon – Unguarded Moment
The first day on a new ship is always a little unusual, but the first day on this ship, isn’t. This ship is home. I have come home. When I first started with the company I heard people talk about ships being ‘theirs’, the concept of a home ship is unofficially established – the thing is, it takes time to find one. I was convinced when I first started that I would forever be a 10-deck ship girl, but here is where I find myself, on this little royal lady of a ship. The flagship has a quiet digintiy, and as always, she welcomes her own.
The team has changed slightly this cruise, but there are at least a half dozen people that I recongise, including a few that I didn’t expect. The DJ is an old friend from my stint on an even smaller ship what feels like a very long time ago. I suppose there are some cases when it’s a good thing to have the past catch up with you.
They’re still unsure where they’re going to have me live. At the moment I’m on A-Deck where I expected to be, with the roommate I half expected to have. She’s a really nice girl and for once I find I wouldn’t mind sharing my space if it weren’t for the luggage! Two women bring a lot of bags on a Grand Voyage, so space in our little tiny cabin is a bit of an issue, especially since I can’t unpack as they could move me at any time. If they do, it will be to a nicer room – something I didn’t expect or ask for, but am grateful for none the less.
It’s times like this, when I lie here on my little bunk bed listening to the engines grind and whir to life underneath me, when I realize…oh my god…how did I get here? I remember sobbing through my last viewing of It’s A Wonderful Life because I couldn’t believe I was ever going to go anywhere. I was going to be just like George Bailey, stuck with all these dreams that came to nothing, never leaving the ever-tightening confines of my hometown. I hated it, and I was bitter about it, but I was sure that was what life held for me despite people telling me otherwise…
That same girl who was the one thinking she was going to be stuck an old maid closing up the library…
Well, I am still single, and I am closing up the library once in a while…but I’m doing it while contemplating whether or not this will be the season that I see the Forbidden City and the Terracotta Army, and whether or not I’ll get a good photo of Mount Kilimanjro at some point along this trip…
How….did a little homegrown girl like me get dropped into all this?
What on earth did I do that was so impressive?