At this very time, 99 years ago, The RMS Titanic was taking water heavily and beginning her plunge into the Atlantic. Before September 11th, as Martin Sheen put it, her name was a synonym for tragedy.

I remeber how I was brought into the world of Titanic. It was an interesting introduction to be sure. The late summer of 1989. I had just seen Ghostbusters 2 in the theater and had just gotten back to school at P.S. 11., first or second grade I think. We used to get these "Troll" book order forms, which I loved, because I loved-still love to read.

There was a scene in Ghostbusters 2 wherein New York City is once again being overwhelmed with ghosts...one of these ghosts just happens to be the eerie spectre of the Titanic arriving in New York, about 77 years late, with her passengers disembarking, to the utter shock and amazement of modern day dock workers, one of whom was played by Cheech Marin, who commented; "Well...better late then never."

With that celluloid memory still freshly ingrained in my head from the summer...imagine the look on my face when I saw, on that very book order form, the title "Exploring the Titanic"by Dr. Robert Ballard. I instantly checked it off and a few weeks later I got the book that I still to this day have on my bookshelf. It's a book that has so massively changed my life that I don't think I can ever get rid of it.

It was the first of what I would easily guess to be over 60 Titanic books I have read.

Before there was James Cameron's inaccurate piece of trash that saw dispersal in 1997, there was the truthful and excellently well done "A Night To Remember" from 1958, based on the book of the same name. But for me, Titanic was truly brought to life in the National Geographic documentary "Secrets of Titanic." To me this is the epitome of what a documentary should be. Excellence from start to end.

Titanic...I cannot explain the reason what it draws me in. For many who've known me for years, it's become one of my...trademarks I guess. While I no longer do it nearly to the extent I used too, I would spout off Titanic facts so naturally, you would have guessed I built the ship myself. It would be something people would associate me with for years. Until Cameron's piece of filth came out anyway.

For me Titanic was not simply books and documentaries. It re-invigorated a love of the ocean that I had gained from my mother.

It introduced me to the world of oceanography, specifically underwater archaeology. I became as obsessed as a kid would with submersibles and research ships. When my parents and I visited Cape Cod for a few summers in the mid to late 90's, I made it my mission to always go to Woods Hole, to visit the oceanographic institute(WHOI), whose ships, scientists and crews, along with Dr. Ballard-discovered the wreck, 2 miles down in the north Atlantic in September, 1985. A year later they would return with the 3 person research submersible "Alvin" and actually become the first people to physically explore the wreck.

For years as a kid, i'd try to duplicate Alvin and it's mother ship "Atlantis 2" in Lego form. I became such an Alvin fan that I even bought the book chronicling it's history. What kinda 8th grader buys a 300+ page biography of a submersible?

Every year we went I had always hoped to get a glimpse of Alvin, but every year it would be away on an expedition. To this day the closest I've gotten has been a small piece of the sub encased in plastic on a key chain, one of the many things I bought on those trips. One day i'll see it.

Woods Hole became a sort of Graceland for me. As I've said, Titanic opened up a world of discovery for me that wasn't just limited to the wreck itself. I became fascinated with the quaint little town, and still am to this day.

Dr. Ballard, who found the ship, has had a career that I've closely followed to this day. I would often go out of my way to listen to TV interviews with him, and his facts at the end of each episode of "Seaquest: DSV" made an already great show that much better. Giant submarine with a talking dolphin and the guy who discovered Titanic at the end of each episode? It's like they made the show for me.

Titanic got me to read more then a kid at my age usually wanted too, and i'm happy for that. It's still something I love, maybe now even more so.

It's taught me a sense of humility in a way as well. The story can really humble you if you think about it. Back in 1912, it was obviously not only a simpler time, but one where people were people. Men went down with the ship dressed in their very best. Many did not defy the "women and children first" order, like Thomas Andrews, the man who designed the ship and was last seen standing in front of a clock before the ship went down. People were decent. They knew the meaning of being decent.

In a day and age where we all, myself included, sometimes get frustrated if someone doesn't return our call within an hour, or get annoyed if our sandwich isn't completed within 3 minutes...in this crazy world...I want you to think of this. The family members of Titanic's passengers had to wait for 4 days to receive word of the fate of their loved ones. Think about that. Then realize how lucky we all are to be living in the world we live in now.

I look to close this writing with the story of Captain Arthur Rostron, of the RMS Carpathia, who answered the distress call sent out by Titanic. He answered the call, knowing he would be hours out from arriving, but still, he, without hesitation turned his ship around, and drove full speed into the very same field of ice that had dealt the fatal blow to Titanic.

He and his crew arrived roughly 2 hours after the railing of the stern section of the ship slipped beneath the waves. He arrived to find 13 small lifeboats with 705 people huddling in bitter cold, many having just witnessed their loved ones perish.

These people were unsure they would ever see rescue, yet this man and his crew performed gallantly in the face of tragedy.

This is what legends are made of. In the face of utter dismay, this story does have one shining beacon of hope that I would like to think we can all live up to in some small way.

While I think it's a bit...corny to say "RIP Titanic", it is my wish that the 1500 souls will in some way by this point have found rest. I thank you for reading this.