People are familiar with James Cameron’s Titanic, a movie about the damned lovers Jack and Rose. The couple may be fictional, but another romance is very real.
Virginia Estelle McDowell Clark and her spouse Walter Miller Clark were on their honeymoon, but they cut their trip short. They wanted to see their son sooner than later, so they boarded the Titanic.
The affluent pair never expected the ship to sink. “Virginia Clark later said that when she felt the iceberg hit the boat, her husband was playing poker in the saloon, so she interrupted the game and told him she thought something was wrong,” an article states. They travelled to the ship’s deck, so they could get inside one of the lifeboats.
While Clark was lowered into one, her husband had to stay on the craft. “The boat was supposed to lower and gather more passengers but couldn’t take passengers from the gangway door, so it continued being lowered. There was quite a bit of room on the boat, so there would have been a spot for [Mr. Clark] if it had worked out differently,” an article states.
Her husband lost his life, and Clark’s life was never the same.
Even though the Titanic sunk on April 15, 1912, her painful memory resurfaced when pieces of her spouse were found. “Gambling chips, a locket, and a cuff link are just a few of the items found in a suitcase that belonged to [him],” an article states.
The belongings will be showcased in Las Vegas in memory of the Titanic, not to mention Clark’s love story. Patrons can visit The Artifact Exhibition section of the Luxor Hotel & Casino to learn more.
The Titanic will always be a sore reminder of lives lost, but the ship will also be a reminder of how true love prevails, even if only decades later.
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