Titanic- The Curse

A Functional Dysfunctional Family.

Arnold and i had been courting for around a year when he proposed, it came around the time the book was to be released. The book was in high demand, it was banned in some US states and some countries, but it didn't matter to us, the book was widely acclaimed, it had some criticism, but on the whole it was accepted widely and loved by millions of people. Arnold and i were invited to a gathering in LA, we invited Julianna and Kenneth, they both came to love Arnold as much as i did. I was relieved, Julianna told me she was sorry for her behaviour and that she was trying to protect her grandmother's dignity. I understood, but she soon realised that her grandmother would want me to be happy. The day after i accepted Arnold's marriage proposal, we had an offer from a production company to make a film, but they would wait until the middle of the sixties before making it. I understood why, the sixties were a lot more openminded, we accepted the offer, it was in the millions and the millions to be made from book sales, after the wedding Arnold and i would donate to people that enjoy same sex relationships. Julianna came home for a while to help me with the wedding.

I found the perfect dress, Julianna would be a bridesmaid and Arnold would look handsome in the suit he had chosen. I learned from Julianna that i would get to meet her long term lover at the wedding, they had been together since she was seventeen, her lover was a lot older than her, but it didn't matter she was now an adult. Kenneth was looking frail, he had stomach cancer again, he didn't want chemotherapy or healing from Julianna, he was missing Josephine badly, she was all he ever spoke of, Julianna knew he wanted to be with her, we made sure he was well enough for the wedding. I spoke with Arnold to push the wedding forward as Kenneth was dying, he of course agreed. We didn't marry in LA, Kenneth couldn't travel, we planned our wedding in New Orleans, the priest was the same one from the funeral, he agreed to the wedding, we had to go through wedding trials before the big day. Arnold and i spent days with him, he told me had read the book and it brought him to tears, he actually said, "dear lady, i am now beginning to change my mind on same sex couplings, the Bible taught me that it was wrong, but it never went into detail on why it was wrong. I am sorry for how treated you at the funeral of the woman you called your wife." I forgave him, i also told him to wait for the movie due out in a couple of years, he said he would. I visited Kenneth after and told him the wedding would be in a couple of weeks. Kenneth looked worse than ever, Julianna and her lover never left his side, she nursed him from morning to night.

The wedding day was upon us, i was a nervous wreck, that was the day they told us who they would be casting as us in the book. I was excited as it was all big stars of the day. I was now in my early sixties now, although not to blow my own horn, i didn't look it, Arnold was a number of years younger, i had looked after myself, i always had. I do believe the witchcraft and potions worked. Julianna and her lover Trudy helped me dress, they both ended up being bridesmaids, Arnold stayed in a hotel with his brother and nephews that night. I was finally ready, as i left my bedroom, i walked past the pictures of Elisa and i together, i touched it and i asked her to be with me today, soon her scent wafted past my nose. I knew then she was with me. I said inside my head, i said, "I'll always love you darling." A breeze whizzed by me, i heard a whisper, "I love you too, have an amazing day." I walked downstairs and out the front door, to the car waiting outside and we drove to the church. As we approached Arnold and Kenneth were both waiting, Arnold entered the church, Kenneth waited as he wanted to walk me down the aisle. Kenneth wasn't steady on his feet anymore, but he used a stick. We walked to the altar as Arnold was waiting, soon the wedding was off to a start. A little like the funerals, the priest rushed it. The wedding was over as quickly as we said 'i do.' We came out to locals throwing rice and other wedding associated seeds. Arnold's car had a note that said, "just married," on the back, it had tin cans attached to it also. We had to make sure Kenneth got home safely. Julianna and Trudy took him home and we headed to the hotel where Arnold had it decorated for our reception. Julianna and Trudy made it back after they put Kenneth in bed and gave him some medicine. Julianna informed me she didn't want to stay long and that I should say my goodbyes to her father as soon as possible, he might not make it until the middle of next week. I told her i would go and see him, then postpone my honeymoon until after he passes, he was still my family, Arnold took Kenneth on as a son in-law and Julianna eventually started to call him grandfather, it wasn't a quote unquote normal family by any stretch of the imagination, but the truth is we loved each other.

The sixties were now in full swing, the years of the flower children, Kenneth surprised us all and he lived a lot longer than expected, but sadly he passed in his sleep just before we returned from our months long honeymoon. Julianna tried to hold the funeral off until we returned, but there was a bad flu that swept through the city when we were gone, the funeral parlour needed the storage, they buried Kenneth with Elisa and Josephine, it turned out a large funeral, he was well connected to the community and had a very large extended family. Arnold and i visited the grave to lay flowers when we returned, he even gave me some time alone, time i didn't even have to ask him for to chat with Elisa. Arnold knew i was still in love with her, I'd always love her, he never once got jealous. Life was good, Julianna and Trudy moved to Australia, Trudy was offered a job there, with me newly married, i was also busy in Hollywood, i was on set helping with the characters that played us, the script was flawless, of course Hollywood took artistic license with some of the points stipulated in the book. I believe they do this for shock and awe value. Arnold told me the film should take around six months to a year to complete, maybe even quicker if locations are granted faster. We had news from Australia that Julianna and Trudy began proceedings to stop us from making the film in case we accidentally told the world about them, but she forgot, she signed an agreement giving permission for her first name to be used in the book, we came to a compromise, we realised there was no pictures of Julianna as an adult in the book, we told them that they would be safe if they dated men to stop people being suspicious about them. Julianna didn't want to date a man, but Trudy decided for their own sanity and safety that she would. Trudy as far as I knew would go that far to keep them from being discovered, but she promised Julianna, holding hands would be as far as she was prepared to go. The proceedings against us were cancelled and i told my granddaughter she would gain a huge financial sum once i began receiving royalties from my book and the film. I was being paid handsomely for my on set help.