The Engagement
Port of Venice
The cruise ship was the largest sea vessel I had ever seen in my entire thirty-two years of life on this planet. The Norwegian behemoth was docked at Isola Nuova, Venice’s main cruise port. Registering at just over one-thousand feet in length, and peaking at one hundred and thirty-three feet in height, the fifteen deck masterpiece truly took my breath away. In that sublime moment in time, I tried to mentally prepare myself for the twelve day Mediterranean cruise my girlfriend, Emily, and I were about to embark on in celebration of her thirtieth birthday, while simultaneously trying to conceal the engagement ring burning a hole in my backpack. This was also the first cruise ship I had ever been on, so naturally my nerves were rattling out of control. The encroaching storm wasn’t helping my anxiety either.