For Friend, Rena

Dear Rena,

When you wrote, "drop a petal in the ocean for me," you provided us a challenge. Exactly what kind of petal, we wondered.

Then it came to mind: Dan's sister, Peggy, and her family had a beautiful floral arrangement sent to our ship stateroom. If you didn't see the picture I placed in this blog on our first day out, here it is again.

Even with the obstruction of the paper with the message on it, you can see that the arrangement has a variety of blossoms.

A Petal. Hmm. We wondered next if your request follows a Hawaiian tradition, or a Buddhist one, or what. Also wondered whether "a petal" specifies ONE petal only, or if it could be part of a cluster -- a blossom.

So, we've had to define things for ourselves. After a number of days at sea, obviously, some of the blossoms began to wilt, despite Dan's plucking dried items, and his careful watering. Still, there are quite a few blossoms that look as fresh as the day we received the gift.

Here's what we decided to do. Late this afternoon, we took three individual stems of orchids with us to an aft deck area that overlooks the ship's wake. After assuring ourselves no one was watching (we were about to break one of the strict rules of the cruise line), we dropped TWO of the stems into the wake whilst thinking of the many years of treasured friendship you and Tony have shared with us. The third stem was of special significance for the two of you, in the recent loss of your longtime friend, Isabelle. In your behalf, we thought of her as we dropped that final stem of orchid in her memory.

Now we're simply hoping we've completed our commission.