If you are of a certain age, you have likely heard the song by Gordon Lightfoot called "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald," commemorating something that happened 50 years ago today. The Edmund Fitzgerald was pretty much considered the ultimate ship for purpose, and much like its unlikely predecessor, the Titanic, was considered pretty unsinkable. Which we have learned time and time again, does not seem to be an actual quality.
Anyway, this time of year, it always comes into focus because of the unfortunate anniversary, and of course this year being the 50th anniversary, there are all kinds of stories about it and the people who worked on it.
I have my own story about the Edmund Fitzgerald, though it happened six years before the ship's demise.
One of my father's fondest dreams was to someday go on a cruise. Of course, it never happened, because we barely had enough money for necessary things. He worked in the trucking industry, dealing with all kinds of transportation issues and people. In the later part of September 1969, one of the people he dealt with on a regular basis asked if he and my mother would like to go on one of the big ships that transported ore and other materials around the Great Lakes. Apparently this was something that they did on a yearly basis, with maybe up to 10 non-crew people traveling on the ships.
My mother had no interest in doing this at all. But my father was so excited, and he really saw it as a chance to finally go on a huge ship through famous waters. So off they set for a 10 day trip, on the SS Edmund Fitzgerald.
Towards the end of the trip, my father got really sick. Two days after they returned, he went into the hospital. The cancer that had started in his stomach five years before, returned, settling in his liver. He never got to come back home, and he died on the Monday of Thanksgiving week in 1969.*
My mother said that except for the last couple of days, he absolutely loved being on that ship, and everything about it. She said that she was glad that they went, because he kept saying how wonderful it was.
Six years later, the actual wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald occurred. A massive tragedy affecting the lives of so many families who would never be the same. And then Gordon Lightfoot came out with his song, which told the tale in the most evocative and heartbreaking way.
Every year when the anniversary rolls around, it reminds me of my own personal anniversary that is approaching. I have always felt the shipwreck more as a personal thing than I should, given that no one on the ship on that fateful day had any direct connection with me. But I guess the fact that I knew of the ship beforehand, and it was associated with my father's last happy earthly adventure, made it all more personal.
"Does anyone know where the love of God goes
When the waves turn the minutes to hours?"
-- lyric from "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald"
*This year happens to be a repeat of that week, with November 24th being on a Monday. On the occasions that it happens that way, I am somehow always surprised - as if that should have only happened once.