A SUNKEN SHIP

In honor of the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic, Sweet Neighbor Girl came over this afternoon with a book about the ill-fated ship and she read a healthy portion of it to me.

"Did you know that the Titanic was eleven stories high and as long as three football fields?"

More than anything else, she was mortified by the fact that their were three different classes of passengers, depending on wealth and social status. Pictures showed the differences in the inequitable lodging space and separate decks.

"I'd have to be first class," SNG announced.

"Well, I'm sure I would have been third class," I said.

"Ewwww! But their toilets were on top of their sinks, and what if..."

"That's okay. You don't have to tell me."

As she continued to read all the Titanic triviata, I told her that my great aunt was alive when the Titanic sunk. "She was your age and she said there were lots of articles about it in the newspaper."

"Lucky! I wish I'd been alive back then."

"Well, probably not because then you wouldn't be here sitting in my living room right now."

"You mean she's not alive anymore?"

"No, but she lived to be 97 so that's pretty good. Does your book talk about Molly Brown?" I asked.

"Yes, she was the one who said, 'Turn this lifeboat back so we can get some more people, and do it NOW!' We learned about her in class. Oh, and did you know that the Titanic hit an iceberg in the middle of the night on its very first trip? And do you know that 1,500 people drowned and that explorers at the bottom of the ocean have found dishes and a baby doll's head?"

It's so nice having a nine-year-old historian living next door to keep me well-informed about world history.