The Cast of Characters & Quick Guide to the Story

Friday, July 15, 2011

The Bitter End

Smith, on our first sunny day going up the St. Lawrence.
Today is Smith's last day aboard the Marlin. It's bittersweet. I think she needs the time away. The way I needed to get away from my job in NYC. The way I needed that year on a sailboat. Maybe she doesn't need a year. But she needs to get away, so she can come back to another boat with her glass half-full; not empty.

But who will buy the ingredients for limoncello and put them on my counter at night because I said I could make it? Who will tell me after many meals, "This doesn't suck."? 

When I finally get around to making yogurt, she won't be here to participate in the process, and assess the results. The next time I get fixed up to go out on the town, who will give me that look like I'm a poser and I should know it? More importantly, who will be my line of communication with the aft cabin? Most of the time, Smith was how I knew about anything - my source of information about where we were going or when we might be anchoring - and of what Cap eats or doesn't eat! She was also of course the main source of sailing know-how for most of us.  

Nothing will be the same without her. We might get all soft and wiggly-washy. We might lose our edge. We are definitely losing our rock.

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