The Perfect Day

Our last day at sea was amazing!! After leaving the protection of the Indonesian islands we headed out into open sea. The day was stormy and the waves were high. This experience was the best ever. I stayed out on the deck for hours and just listened to music and watched the amazing huge waves as I felt the ship rock up and down. Such a peaceful feeling and I felt in awe of God's creations.

It has been interesting to watch people walk down the ship corridors swaying side to side with the movement of the ship. I am glad that I have had no problems with seasickness.

Tonight was our last day to work in the Scullery and I really wanted to help serve. I went to the FSO (Food Service Officer) and asked if I could help serve – she said yes and then I asked if my friend, Michelle Crawford, could come also as it was her birthday. I wanted this to be a surprise for her birthday.  We both got to serve in the officers line and we had a ball. I made a birthday hat for Michelle to wear as she served. She tried to get out of wearing it, but that was a no go. I was the soup server and the soup of the day was “Tomato Bouillon” Usually the soup is a favorite, but I did not have a lot of takers so I made it my challenge to market the soup. I had quite a lot of takers once I started broadcasting the merits of “Tomato Bouillon with a touch of Celery” I suggested crackers and cheese from the salad bar. It was quite fun. When the line was dying down I asked one of the sailors in the kitchen if they had candles that we could put on a cake for Michelle. He said he had something better and pulled out a lighter and set it on the counter and we started singing. Right at this moment Commodore Franchetti rounded the corner to get her meal and found us singing to Michelle. She joined right in to help us sing “Happy Birthday” – all the while Michelle was red as a beet. It was great!

At the end of the evening we went all the way up to the top of the ship by the Bridge. The navigator on watch was out checking the compass and I waved him over. I pulled out the birthday card one more time and asked if Michelle and I could come forward and watch the waves from the front – before that time we were dutifully staying behind the “red line”. He said yes and we spent the next 40 minutes feeling the strong headwinds hit us in the face and watching an amazing final sunset at sea and from the USNS Mercy. I could have stayed out there forever.

After playing games a group of us decided we wanted to see if there were any stars out. It had been cloudy and stormy all day. I had never seen any stars at sea as I usually I was too tired when working to stay up or even notice the stars. We went up to the highest point on the ship and the clouds were all gone. I have never seen such amazing stars. It took my breath away and I felt so content just to stare into the heavens. What a beautiful sight and such peace filled my soul as I was able to enjoy this last evening under the stars. I am used to saying when I am away from home, “My family can look up and see the same stars”, but that is not true here – I am on the other side of the world seeing stars that I have never seen before. What a concept! I was able to see the Southern Cross for the first time.  Hey, isn't that in a song? It was a perfect ending to a perfect day!