Steve took one last photo, of Thomas and John, standing on the gangway after unloading the vans. None of them could imagine, what
awaited the two families, once their ship was on it's way. At the Gasthof, the evening before they watched the news on TV. It was reported that a big storm was brewing over the Atlantic. Steve’s wife told me years later that the owner of the guest house warned them, he said it was too dangerous to get on a ship that week.
But Peter reminded them, that he and his family, had also been with Thomas and I, on a cruise ship in the winter. He said we only had a couple of days that were stormy, where everyone was sick, but we survived. Steve agreed, that if their cargo ship was embarking as scheduled, it couldn’t be too bad.
Terri told me later what really happened. She said that after a couple of days, when the boat was away from the coast, a huge storm hit them. Steve even took pictures with his four year old son out on the deck, showing him how exciting it was, to see the big waves. The powerful winds were so strong, that the ship was stuck for a couple of days, in one place. I think it took them at least 15 days to finally make it to New York. The reality was, she and Steve could have flown with their children to the States, and avoided such a horrendous experience. The good thing was, we had all prayed for their travels, before they left!
