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Depth of Emotion

"Romance would always be part of Titanic's history."

By Antonella Di MinniPublished 2 years ago 11 min read
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Dr. Michael Lee checked the mini-sub’s depth gauge for the third time in the last ten minutes. There were still over three thousand feet until they reached the bottom. At a 100 feet per minute, Dr. Lee would have to endure another 30 minutes of babble from Mrs. Marie Teller. This was his seventh trip to the wreck of the Titanic, and it was the first time that his anticipation had been replaced with something new: dread. How would he ever endure this voyage with the dreadful woman at his side?

Marie Teller and her husband, Evan, who sat in the sub’s small rear seat, had paid $250 thousand for their underwater adventure. It was small change to the Tellers, but for Dr. Lee it was necessary to finance his studies of the 110-year-old shipwreck. Dr. Lee usually didn’t mind his paying customers. The previous four trips with passengers hadn’t been too bad. Most people were genuinely curious about his work and enjoyed learning things about Titanic. Unfortunately, the Tellers were not these kinds of passengers.

“Evan, look how black it is out there,” said Marie Teller, “Can you imagine poor Jack’s body sinking through this darkness. Oh, it just breaks your heart to think about it.”

Dr. Lee rolled his eyes and gave some attention to instruments that needed no attention. He tried to appear busy so Mrs. Teller wouldn’t ask him more questions. So far in the nearly two-hour descent it seemed like every question she posed concerned that movie. Dr. Lee guessed it was the only reason she was on the sub, and it was maddening to him.

“Dr. Lee, how long would it have taken a body to reach the bottom?” she asked.

He tried to stay calm as he answered politely. “It’s something I have never really thought about before, so I can’t really say.”

Mrs. Teller looked dumbfounded. “But you’re such an expert on Titanic. You must have some idea.”

Dr. Lee looked at her. The earnestness in her eyes was almost endearing. She had large, brown eyes enhanced with a bit too much make-up. Dr. Lee guessed she was in her fifties, though she looked younger. She wore a mission jumpsuit, just like those worn by her husband and Dr. Lee, but that hadn’t stopped her from making sure that her nails were perfectly manicured and her hair was styled as if for a party. Passengers were always advised not to wear perfume or cologne because of the small confines of the sub, but Mrs. Teller had ignored that bit of advice. Her pleasant, if overwhelming scent was more than a match for the tiny sub’s air filtering system.

“I do know a lot about Titanic, but no one knows everything. That’s one of the reasons trips like this are so important. We learn something new every time,” Dr. Lee said. He could tell that his answer disappointed Mrs. Teller. “But if I had to guess, an average body would take about three hours to reach the bottom. A little longer than our sub.” Mrs. Teller’s face immediately brightened.

Mr. Teller put his hand on his wife’s shoulder, and she smiled at him. Mr. Teller had been very quiet on their descent, and even now didn’t speak. But Dr. Lee noticed the genuine affection Mr. Teller had for his wife. He guessed that this trip was all for Mrs. Teller and her husband was just along for the ride.

“Are you doing ok back there, Mr. Teller,” Dr. Lee asked.

“Please, call me Evan, and yeah, I’m doing fine,” said Mr. Teller. “I think all this darkness makes me a little claustrophobic.”

“You’ll feel better when we reach the bottom,” Dr. Lee said. “Something about seeing the ship makes you forget everything else.”

Mrs. Teller patted her husband’s hand. “You’re doing great, honey,” she said. For the next twenty minutes or so, Mrs. Teller talked aloud about almost everything she knew about Titanic. It was a Discovery channel re-telling of the ship’s history, but Dr. Lee was actually a bit impressed with how much she knew. What ruined it for him was the periodic inclusions of phrases like “poor Jack,” or “Jack was so young,” or “Jack was really looking forward to his life in America.”

Dr. Lee had a real love/hate relationship with the 1997 Titanic movie. He was 17 when he saw the film on a date with a girl whose name he could not remember. She loved the movie. She cried at the end and afterward just kept talking about “Jack and Rose.” Dr. Lee could not have cared less for the characters, but he was fascinated with the story of the ship itself and the real people who had been aboard. To him, there was nothing romantic about the catastrophe. He felt that to romanticize the event cheapened it somehow. There was so much to the real history of the ship that it didn’t need a teenage romance to make it special.

As they drove home his date continued to ramble on about the great love story and the “ship of dreams.” Dr. Lee had then commented “The ship of dreams… of course later they called it the ship of screams.” The young woman was not amused. She remained quiet for the rest of the drive and they never went out again.

Mrs. Teller may as well have been the girl he took the movie. Her excitement and constant references to “poor Jack” were becoming more than he could bear. Luckily, a bell sounded indicating they were approaching the bottom. “Mr. and Mrs. Teller, we are almost at our destination. Sonar says that we’re about 200 yards away from Titanic. When we arrive, I need to do a detailed image survey of the bow. We’re trying to determine how quickly the ship is decomposing. That should take a couple of hours. After that, we’ll do some general exploring.”

Dr. Lee turned on the external search lights and dimmed the inside illumination. Mr. and Mrs. Teller strained their eyes. Mrs. Teller was silent for the first time on their trip, until suddenly she whispered, “Oh my God!” The water in front of them was clear enough to see through as the search lights hit the ship’s bow. Dr. Lee had seen Titanic many times before, but the feeling of amazement was still the same. Even Mr. Teller quietly said, “It’s beautiful.”

The little sub came to a stop and the three passengers just gazed at the storied wreck of Titanic. Ahead of them they could see the rails of the great ship, draped with hundreds of “rusticles” that looked like stalactites in a cavern. Dr. Lee had once told a friend that you don’t see Titanic, you experience it. The ship and its story were so iconic that to see the real thing was overwhelming. He put aside his emotions and radioed the surface that they had arrived. He set to work as he made multiple scans of the ship. “I’m sorry if this part is a bit boring,” he said to his passengers.

“There is nothing boring about being here, Dr. Lee,” said Mr. Teller. “This is probably the most exciting moment of my life. Don’t you agree, Marie?” She didn’t really hear him. She was mesmerized by the view from her window.

Dr. Lee was pleased that his passengers appreciated the experience more than he had expected them to. In fact, they were mostly silent while he completed his survey, only occasionally pointing out something to each other. The whole time they spoke in hushed tones, which he found surprising, especially from Mrs. Teller. It was a stark contrast from the boisterous woman she was during the descent.

By the time Dr. Lee finished his imaging, Mrs. Teller was still mostly silent. “Let’s so some exploring now,” he said. “Tell me If you spot anything interesting. You never know what fresh eyes might find.” Mrs. Teller only nodded. Dr. Lee was getting a bit worried about her now. She seemed to be weeping.

“Are you okay, Mrs. Teller?” he asked.

“I’m fine,” she said with a sniffle. “Dr. Lee, would it be possible to see the Boat Deck, port side? Is that still intact?”

“Sure. Just let me bring us about.” Dr. Lee was surprised by such a specific request, but saw no harm in granting it. He brought the sub around the wreck and shined its forward light on the Boat Deck. There was nothing particularly interesting about this part of the ship, though this was the spot where most survivors had boarded lifeboats.

As the spotlights made the deck clearly visible, Mrs. Teller burst into tears. Mr. Teller leaned forward and tried to comfort his wife as best he could. Dr. Lee didn’t understand what was going on. He guessed that it had something to do with a sad part of the movie. He pictured his date crying in the theater so many years earlier. Just as back then, the tears of the woman next to him were an annoyance. Just to be polite he finally asked Mr. Teller if there’s anything he could do to help.

“Thank you, doctor, but there isn’t,” Mr. Teller said. “My wife is just a bit emotional right now. This is the last place her great-grandfather, Jacque Dumond, was seen alive. He went down with the ship.”

Dr. Lee suddenly realized that Mrs. Teller had been saying “Jacque” and not “Jack”. This woman sitting next to him had a direct connection to Titanic. It wasn’t a character in a movie that interested her, but an ancestor. Dr. Lee felt ashamed of himself for his harsh judgement.

Mrs. Teller started to calm down. Between sobs and sniffles, she said, “I’m sorry Dr. Lee. On the way down I was so nervous. I know I was just prattling on and on, but it was the only way I could keep it together. I didn’t want to be crying the whole time.”

“You don’t have anything to apologize for, Mrs. Teller,” Dr. Lee said.

“Please, Dr. Lee, we’re old friends now. Call us Evan and Marie,” she said and smiled through her tears.

Dr. Lee returned the smile. “Okay, Marie. And you call me Michael. Can you tell me what you know about your great-grandfather?”

Mrs. Teller laughed. “Oh, I know a lot,” she said. “It would take a long time to tell you everything, but the short version is that my great-grandparents, Jacque and Marie, were coming from France to live in New York with her parents. When the ship started to sink, they had gone to the lifeboats, but only women could board. Marie told her husband they had to stay together because she was pregnant. She had planned to tell him when they reached New York but knew it couldn’t wait. Jacque made her get in the lifeboat and said he would find another way. Marie said the last image she had of Jacque was staring up at him as the lifeboat was lowered. He was smiling and shouted ‘I love you! I love both of you!’” Mrs. Teller began to sob again.

“Mrs. Teller… I mean, Marie, were you named after your great-grandmother?” Dr. Lee asked.

“Yes,” Mrs. Teller said. “My grandmother was born seven months after Titanic sunk and was named Marie. My mother and I also shared the name. And we named our oldest son Jacque.”

“It’s an amazing story,” Dr. Lee said. “You have such a connection to Titanic. Thank you for sharing this experience with me.” Mrs. Teller smiled at Dr. Lee and hugged him as best she could from her seat. After Mrs. Teller said some silent prayers, she said she was ready to move on. They spent the next 90 minutes exploring the shipwreck. Mr. Teller spotted something no one had seen before; a small statue partly exposed on the seafloor. They captured numerous images of the discovery before they started their ascent to the surface.

The trip up was much more relaxed than the trip down had been. The three submariners chatted and laughed like old friends. Dr. Lee then posed a question to Mrs. Teller. “Marie, I have a favor to ask. Would you mind working with me to tell your story? I am already working on a book about Titanic and I would really like to include what you’ve told me. Or maybe even a book just about your family.”

Mrs. Teller beamed at Dr. Lee. “Oh, Michael, I would love that! I have old pictures of Jacque and Marie that were sent from France at some point. I even have letters and a diary that my great-grandmother wrote. Nothing would make me happier than people knowing their story!”

On the 112th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic, a book was released written by Dr. Michael Lee and Mrs. Marie Teller. The front of the dust jacket had a black and white picture of Mrs. Marie Dumond and her daughter taken in 1913. The back of the of the dust jacket had a picture of Dr. Lee, and Mr. and Mrs. Teller on the deck of the research vessel shortly after their return from Titanic. The book was titled, “Jacque and Marie: a Titanic Love Story.” At first Dr. Lee had objected to the title, but his friend and co-author, Marie Teller, eventually convinced him that romance would always be a part of Titanic’s history.

Historical
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