Witnessing a Rescue at Sea and Rediscovering my Rose Colored Glasses

As a child and even through early adulthood, I was nicknamed Rosie because I wore rose-colored glasses. I’m not sure when or how I dropped those and started seeing life in shades of gray. At some point I stopped seeing the good in situations and I let the fear of tomorrow or what’s just around the corner shade my view. I let the clouds of life, which come into all human lives, steal my joy and peace. At times it paralyzed me. I was, more often than not, full of fear.

What if this relationship fails? What if someone I love dies? What if retirement doesn’t work out? What if I can’t make it financially? What if I can’t do this job? What if she/he doesn’t like me? What if my kids aren’t successful or happy? What if they are disappointed in me?

UGH! It’s exhausting.

Recently I was traveling with 17 other women from my network on a quick 3-day cruise to the Bahamas.  There were a total of 235 of us “Sober Sisters” on the trip. For most of us it was our first cruise and first visit to the Bahamas. Excitement filled the air. The stage was set for a wonderful time.

And then…

Our plane was delayed leaving Cincinnati, but we made it to Fort Lauderdale. Somehow our group of 10 ended up at the wrong hotel and had to uber to the right one and finally arrived around 9:30 pm. My travelmate thought she’d left her phone in the uber. Another friend tried to reach the driver multiple times. She and I went straight to panic. (What would we do without her phone?  How would she get on the cruise ship without her Sea Pass?! ) Minutes later when looking for something in my purse, I found her phone. IN MY PURSE! We were relieved and had a good laugh, but neither of us remember her handing it to me and I certainly don’t know who put it in my purse, lol. By the time we got settled in our rooms, we were exhausted, both physically and emotionally.

On Friday the 13th the sun was shining brightly as we boarded the ship. Beautiful new friendships were brewing, and old friendships were bubbling up to new levels. We settled into our room and headed to the upper deck to watch as we left port. People everywhere, so much laughter and joy. We were overwhelmed with gratitude.

We had been watching the forecast for the past week, so we knew the temps were not your typical ‘Bahamas warm’, but we decided to be grateful for the opportunity to share new experiences with friends. The next morning, we headed to the top deck to catch our first Bahamas sunrise. It was so windy and cold that one friend nearly had her phone blown out of her hands. We ended up watching the sunrise from the banquet area windows and it was stunning but was not without whining about the weather. Our excursions were canceled, you needed a jacket to be outside, and we felt cheated out of our Bahamas vacation.

Despite the weather, we had a lovely breakfast, and someone suggested we put together an AA meeting. For those not familiar, meetings are where we come together regularly to support each other, share our happy and crappy, and help each other stay sober another day. In what seemed like no time at all, a group of about 30 women were headed to the Card Room ready to share experiences, strength, and hope with each other.

As my friend and I were getting ready to head to the meeting, the captain announced that there was a boat full of migrants off in the distance and they needed help. The boat contained 17 men, women, and children. They were all screaming and waving their arms in hopes they would be saved. Their boat had many visible holes, and we learned later they had been at sea 15 days. That’s 14 nights in total darkness, having no idea what may be swimming alongside them, or where exactly they were. The waves were horribly high, the water so choppy that our big cruise ship bounced around in the waves. The captain assured us we’d all be safe, but we needed to rescue these people.

Many of us ran to the windows to watch the rescue unfold. Their hand-made boat was being battered in the water. Six passengers with oars paddled intently toward us, while others bailed water. The closer they got, the more you could see their expressions change. Panic shifted to hope. Overwhelm to joy. Their nightmare was over. I knew that feeling well.

As they neared our ship, everyone was in awe. We were no longer angry about the temperatures, the winds, or the canceled Bahamas excursions. We were grateful…Grateful that the weather was such that our captain took us out to sea for the day. Had he not, these 17 human beings desperately looking for a better life would surely have perished. Tears filled the eyes of many. Many were openly praying. I heard people talking about how God had clearly used us in that moment to rescue His children who were in danger. It was a beautiful thing to be a part of. We were so blessed to witness the miracle of the rescue, and the complete change in attitude of everyone on that ship.

My friend and I arrived late to the meeting, only to witness more gratitude. You see, we were all refugees at one point in our lives. The people who filled the rooms of recovery had rescued each of us. How could we not be overwhelmed with gratitude?

We later learned there was a second boat that didn’t make it. I cannot imagine the horror the people on both boats experienced in those days. I did, however, get to see firsthand the gratitude and overwhelming joy of those who found themselves in the safety of Royal Caribbean’s Liberty of the Seas.

The next day was warmer (if you were out of the wind) and we explored the beauty of the Bahamas (even swimming with pigs!). Our final morning, we docked back in Fort Lauderdale on Monday morning at 6am. The sun was shining, the winds diminished, and it was warm and balmy. With 12 hours before our flight left, we rented a car and five of us spent the day in the sun on the beach.  It was heaven.  All of the inconveniences life threw at us the past few days were of no significance.

We’ll likely not ever forget the events of that weekend. Lives were changed that day. Gone were the feelings of anger and disappointment. Born was a new sense of hope and the gratitude for all we have and for the opportunity to witness this beautiful rescue.

My rose-colored glasses came out of retirement on that trip.

      • Our flight was delayed by about 3 hours….. And life-changing bonding occurred
      • We ended up at the wrong hotel…. And we learned to laugh at ourselves
      • A cold front came through and our high temps were 55 with sustained winds of 30 mph on Saturday….. And we felt even more blessed, grateful, and peaceful to be enjoying Monday’s sun and sand
      • Our excursions were canceled….. And we had an incredible impromptu AA meeting
      • We had to be at sea all day Saturday and were stuck on the ship….. And we rescued 17 Cuban migrants

    With my heart full of gratitude, I left that ship with a renewed sense of peace and serenity and clearly saw God’s grace. There has always been and will always be light just beyond the clouds in my life. I just hope I can remember to look for it.