Auto Adventures and Remembering the Past

My husband spent a good bit of the weekend working on our car, with the help of a neighbor across the street, who is a mechanic and also taking more classes in auto mechanics. One of the neighbor's friends (also in mechanic school) was also here for several hours with them. Turns out that the problems we were having with the power steering belt were somehow causing the car not to start. And the problem with the power steering belt was caused by the air conditioning pump seizing up. It seemed like the battery was causing the problems, but that turned out not to be the case. Ah, good times.

I am thankful that those two guys were here to help my husband. Also, our neighbor said he would check out the possiblity of using our van as a "learning experience" at their school. We would just have to provide the parts and they would provide the labor to gain more experience. That would be wonderful, so wonderful that I am trying hard not to think about it in case it doesn't happen, although I have prayed about it throughout the course of the day.

The last American survivor of the Titanic has died. She was also the last person with any memories of the event, as the two British survivors still living were under a year old at the time of the disaster. Poor Lillian lost her father, her twin brother and two other brothers. Here is what she looked like in 1912.

My husband and I were just talking the other night about how people in our time like to dress up and pretend to live in other eras. I find the story of the Titanic intriguing, yet somehow this seems almost macabre. I wouldn't mind dressing up in Titanic era clothes (although not the hobble skirt.) But playing at being on the Titanic with a dainty tea seems in a way disrespectful to the suffering that would later occur, although two of the participants are quoted as being able to better understand the passengers and their feelings. Well, maybe it's just me.