Edwin went through an intense ship phase when he was little. He had a wealth of knowledge about the Titanic, Lusitania, Mauritania, Britannic, and the Olympic by the time he was five.
He was so into the Titanic that he dressed as Leonardo DeCaprio’s Jack for Halloween when he was four. He wore a suit and slicked back his hair. He didn’t seem bothered that Jack faces an icy cold death at the end.
Over the years, his interests shifted to buildings and spaceships, but his boats still lined his shelves. I’ve felt a little sad for those boats at times; he had lavished so much time and attention on them in their glory days.
He told me he learned more about the Lusitania in history class today, about how packed full of weapons and ammunition it was when a German torpedo hit it, sinking it in under 11 minutes.
A bit later, as I looked out the back window, I saw him at the pond with his old model of the Lusitania. He packed it with ballast and pushed it out into the middle of the pond. The flame still burns.
My Corner of the Village 