Titanic Connections
100 years ago today, my Great-Grandmother, Nellie Steele, must have been grieving the fact that she had missed the most exciting trip of her life. Her fiance, my Great-Grandfather, Jack McCurrach, had travelled to Canada 1 1/2 years earlier and was awaiting her arrival so they could marry. But her sister was very ill and expecting a baby, and as it turned out she died about a month after the baby was born. My Great-Grandmother stayed behind to support her sister and then take care of the baby girl until she could be adopted out. The original plan was to take the Titanic to Canada. Families on both sides of the Atlantic remember the story. The disappointment that she felt in being delayed in her trip and missing the most celebrated sailing of any ship in history must have been devestating. And the relief felt when she found out about the sinking of the ship must have knocked the wind out of her. Talk about feeling somehow blessed -...