The Morning After

Titanic Tales

Daisy could sleep through the end of the world

“Daisy could sleep through the end of the world,” my mother always said. And I guess she was right.

I used to lament this strange defect of mine. I’d sit up with my older brothers and sister while they sat around the kitchen table, feeling my eyelids grow heavy as they discussed matters well over my head. As they laughed and chuckled and sipped dark tan liquid out of their big glass mugs, I nodded along, pretending I was part of the conversation.

All I wanted was to be part of their world and since mama never had time to put me to bed, I could usually sneak a few moments of their almost-grown adventures.

Bailey tried to give me a sip of his drink sometimes, but somehow he was always caught by our sister, Louise. She was a stickler and my second mama; ours was often busy working at the diner up the road. On the bright side, she always brought us home plenty of day old bread, which tastes just fine if you put it on the stove for a few moments with some butter.

It was Louise’s idea to go on the Titanic. She dreamed of a better life for us. A life better than Bailey taking a job in the mines and dying early like papa and grandpa, and Uncle Theo.

It’s not that we didn’t all want the best for our strong, protective men, but mine work was what our family had always done. Men worked in the mines. Women kept house.

For generations, no woman in our family had ever worked, but when papa died so young, we didn’t have a choice. In fact, soon Louise would be leaving school to help make ends meet, even though she had two years left.

Oh, that’s not why she had the idea to go on the big ship. It wasn’t for her. It was for all of us.

“This is for you most of all, Daisy,” she told me one night while giving me a makeover with her pigmented lip balm and a light brushing of rouge.

She told me I would be a lady before I knew it, and a lady needed to be educated — not relying on some man who’ll just get broken down in a dead end profession.

I didn’t really know what that meant. I was busy enjoying my reflection in the mirror. I was nearing 11, but with a little bit of…

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