Harold Lowe has managed to claw his way up the career ladder of the British merchant marines, rising from a ship's boy to a master mariner with one of the world's elite passenger lines. Along the way, he's learned to master not only his craft, but...
Harold Godfrey Lowe, Jr.: attended New York University at the tender age of 15, where he majored in biology, and then went on to Harvard University, where he received his PhD in microbiology. After a few years of postdoctoral training, Godfrey moved to Pittsburgh, the City of Steel, where his work on viral capsids contributed to fellow researcher Jonas Salk's groundbreaking development of a vaccine for polio. He was eventually recruited to a small Pennsylvania college, where he served as dean for many years. He married a fellow professor and had one child, a daughter.
Renee Lowe Abbott: became a bona fide Broadway star at the age of 15, and was a marquee performer for Rene Harris for several years. Even after Rene closed the Hudson Theater, Renee continued to work, starring in many on- and off-Broadway productions; she even dabbled in moving pictures, which were rapidly gaining in popularity. She married at age 19, but left the abusive prick after four years and two sons. She remarried a director in her mid-twenties, had one more child, a daughter, and went into semi-retirement in her late thirties to concentrate on her family. When she was fifty, she made a triumphant return to the stage as Little Buttercup in the musical H.M.S. Pinafore, and was welcomed back with a standing ovation as the grand dame that she was.
Charles Lowe: lived a life of the sea, like his father. Unlike his father, however, his entry into this world occurred through service in the US Navy. He enlisted at age 17, having lied about his birthdate, and first served on the aircraft carrier USS Saratoga. Charlie was rated as a Petty Officer First Class on the USS Arizona when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. He survived the subsequent explosion on that battleship, saving several crewmen in the process, for which he was awarded the Navy Cross. He was then transferred to the USS Yorktown and participated in the Battle of Midway, surviving the sinking of that vessel as well. After being wounded in action on the USS Pirate, which struck a mine and sunk in the Korean War, Lieutenant Commander Lowe was medically discharged from the Navy. Charlie married a Navy nurse, converting to Catholicism for her, and they had a large family: seven children in total. Although he retained his American citizenship, after his discharge he moved his family to the ancestral home of Penrallt, in Barmouth. He eventually became the senior harbours officer for Gwynedd Council, a position that would have pleased his father immeasurably.
Catherine Lowe Singh: Despite what George Lowe had predicted, Catherine (Katie) became a doctor. After completing her education at the University of Michigan and receiving her MD, she moved to India to practice medicine. Within a year she had fallen in love with a Sikh officer in the Indian army, who served with distinction in World War II. During the Partition of 1947 the two of them barely escaped with their lives, fleeing from Lahore to India days before the trains filled with dead refugees began arriving on both sides of the border. After seeing the aftereffects of war and violence first-hand, Katie decided to specialize in treating women recovering from trauma and abuse. Although Katie and her husband had a very happy marriage, the union produced no children, which allowed Katie to continue her practice well into her sixties.
William Lowe: George would have been pleased that at last, Harold and Corrine had produced an artist. Will was an important member of the Abstract Expressionism movement, and contemporaries such as Jackson Pollock praised the 'unique expression of feeling' in his works. Although many of his pieces sold for five figures, he lived like a true bohemian in a small studio apartment in Paris. Unlike his other siblings, Will never married. He was known throughout the artistic community for his voracious appetites, enjoying not only fine food but the company of both men and women.
Rose Lowe Wallace: For once, Corrine's second sight had failed her. For she didn't realize that when she was pregnant with Will, she was actually carrying two babies, not one. Her sixth and final child, a girl, was born three minutes after her twin brother during a difficult labor that was reminiscent of Corrine's own entry into the world. Fortunately, however, all three recovered, although Corrine's youngest child was to remain small and rather frail for the rest of her life. That didn't stop her from being as happy and successful as her siblings, however. Corrine christened her youngest daughter Rose, the only one of their children who was not a namesake, and as such, she carved her own path in the world. Rosie, as she preferred to be called, graduated with a degree in literature from Exeter, and became a successful author of historical fiction, publishing half a dozen books that were sold in over 50 countries. Her most popular book was a thoroughly researched novel about the sinking of the Titanic, which helped revive interest in the tragedy during the early 1950s. She married a historian who taught at Edinburgh, and the happy couple, who had a boy and a girl, split their time between Scotland and Wales.
After George Lowe's death in 1928, Harold Lowe became master of Penrallt, and his family continued to reside there during the summer months as a retreat from their New York-based lives. His productive, memorable, and impactful career came to an end when he retired from the sea permanently at the age of fifty. When giving the reason for his rather early retirement, he stated that he wanted to enjoy his life - and his family - before he was too old to do so. And he did: he fished, sailed, taught his children the ways of the sea, and even dabbled in politics. But his happiest moments were spent with Corrine in the garden, or on long walks through the hills and valleys surrounding the property. When he was sixty-one, he suffered a massive stroke that left him incapacitated. Despite Corrine's tireless nursing and care, he died a few weeks later. The last sight he saw before his spirit left this earth was his wife's beautiful eyes.
Corrine Lowe bore her husband's passing with dignity and grace, but she was never the same after his death. Within five years, she was diagnosed with breast cancer. Despite the entreaties from her concerned children, she refused treatment. It was time, she insisted firmly. She had had a wonderful, beautiful life, with more blessings than she had ever wished for - and now, with her children grown, she was ready to go home to Harry again.
Because her decline was so protracted, all six of her children were able to return to her side as she steadily declined. They kept vigil by her bed, making her as comfortable as possible in her final days. Inevitably, however, the end finally arrived. On April 15, 1952, forty years to the day after the Titanic sank, Corrine Elizabeth Donnelly Lowe passed away at the age of sixty-two. Her final moments would be remembered by her children for the rest of their lives. She had been dozing in and out of consciousness, eyes closed, breathing labored, when she suddenly sat straight up. "I see him," she gasped, gripping Katie's hand tightly and staring at the wall with unseeing eyes. And then, as if to an invisible presence far beyond their vision, she whispered, "Harry... you came back..."
And as the light left her eyes, and her grip slackened... as her children laid her back down on the bed and then wept around her... Corrine's lips curved into one final smile.
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And that's the end at last, Dear Readers! Even though their story is done, Harry and Corrine continue to live on in my heart (and on my computer!), and I plan on publishing some of their other adventures soon ;) Or maybe I'll see you on another story of mine, if I ever write one! Until then, take care, and thank you once again for following along on this journey.
