Tonight's picture was taken in May of 2009, at the Mattie March. This event was hosted by Mattie's community and people united together from all avenues of our life.... Mattie's preschool, elementary school, Peter's work, and the George Washington University where I got my doctorate and also worked. In this photo is Ariel and Tess. They were both in the human services program at the University and were two of my top students. They came to the Mattie March and spent time with Mattie doing crafts. To this day, I am still in contact with Ariel. Ariel is now a pediatric nurse in NYC and I am proud of all she is achieving. She could have continued on her merry way and never looked back at me or Peter. But that isn't Ariel. She remains connected and also is a Foundation supporter. When I look at this photo, I see a happy Mattie! I am so happy his doctors and nurses worked with us so that Mattie was well enough to attend the event.
Quote of the day: Today's coronavirus update from Johns Hopkins.
- Number of people diagnosed with the virus: 33,021,312
- Number of people who died from the virus: 587,794
I was surfing through TV channels and came across a series called Cruise Ship Killers. I am not sure why this intrigued me, especially since I am not a big murder mystery fan. But I think what got me was the fact that I have been on almost 20 cruises myself and that the show addresses real life stories.
Here is the description.... Cruise Ship Killers is a true crime series that tells the stories of people who never returned home after taking a holiday on a cruise ship, featuring interviews with family, friends, investigators and experts."The majority of cruise ship deaths are caused by natural causes or accidents but with 30 million people taking a cruise each year, murders do happen. This was NEWS TO ME!!!
The episode I watched was about the mysterious disappearance of a 40 year old woman, Merrian Carver, who was reported missing by her cabin steward early on in the Alaska cruise. This was truly troubling to watch as it seemed the cruise line was being evasive and did not take the issue seriously from the beginning but then really avoided helping the family find answers. They even donated all her clothes and belongings, so that her family never got to see them or have them for any sort of closure. A lot went wrong here, and because cruise ships are located in water, they respond to no jurisdiction. So in essence families and passengers have no rights and cruise lines are not culpable. Merrian's father did change that and created a 501c3 called International Cruise Victims.
It is sad to me that tragedies need to occur before supports or systems are put into place to prevent such incidences. I found the article below fascinating as it accounts the run around the Carver family experienced with the cruise line, and then I attached the link of the non-profit created because of this tragedy. It is so horrific to think about how this family's future changed overnight, from simply taking a cruise. Something we typically think of as fun and an adventure. After reading this and reflecting on what passengers experienced on cruise lines during COVID, it makes me pause about this whole mode of transportation.
https://archive.azcentral.com/specials/special14/articles/1110vanished.html
No comments:
Post a Comment