A Cruise to Remember

We were on our second carribean vacation, on Carnival Cruise Line's Destiny. After browsing through jewlery stores on the island of St. Thomas, I spotted two beautiful solitares (a woman's and a man's) placed perfectly next to each other. We bought them on the spot. We told ourselves that we would leave the rings in the cabin and try to forget about them, but alas we did not succeed. After dinner and the show, the boat was cruising into the middle of the carribean. It was a perfectly starry night, the water was calm and there were just two people on earth: Eddy and me. On the deck in front of the bridge, he got down on one knee and pulled out my ring. He confessed his undying love and his eternal commitment to me. He gently slipped the ring over my finger. He then rose to listen closely to my speech on how meaningful he is to me. I then placed the ring on his finger. After exchanging vows we kissed. But the kiss was interrupted by an awful squacking sound from the sky.

Believe it or not, in the middle of the sea were two stark white birds flying together, encircling each other. Our tears never stopped. We knew that God had blessed our union and that our love was the greatest thing we could ever possess. We proposed to each other after high school graduation, two and a half years ago, and we've been together for five years. We are finally getting married on July 6, 2001 at the church where we met and fell in love.

Holly Hopkins