After looking through several cruises, we decided to embark on the Athena Cruise Ship for a ten day Alaskan cruise. My wife and I were celebrating both our twenty-fifth wedding anniversary and our first trip alone since our son went off to college. My wife is quite the planner and spent a week packing everything we could possibly need: clothes for all occasions, a camera, a back-up camera, extra socks and underwear. There was not a spare inch in any of the four bags allowed by the cruise line. As I hefted these burdensome loads aboard the ship, I thought she had even packed the kitchen sink. Ironically, there was one thing she had forgotten: Dramamine.

When we returned to our room after the ship set sail, I became acutely aware of the ship’s slight rocking motion. When my wife went into the bathroom to slip into something “more comfortable,” I became acutely aware that I was not feeling well. She emerged from the bathroom, looking radiantly beautiful, expecting me to sweep her off her feet. Instead, I nearly knocked her off her feet as I pushed past her into the bathroom. Fortunately, I got my “sea legs” after a day and we ended up having a wonderful trip.