I felt strangely moved by this - the passing of unknown elderly gentleman with a nice, tender eyes who travelled alone and like all of us, living and breathing, had still some plans for the next day but had not lived to see the next morning.
Big majority of cruise ships passengers are elderly people - once retired, now they have time and possibilities to see the world and everything they missed during life of hard and constant work. Alas, perhaps it would have been better if they sacrificed a little from their younger years because now in the Autumn of their lives, body is not so strong like before - it is difficult to climb all those rocky roads and cobblestone streets under the scorching sun or in the drizzling rain, not surprisingly some elderly passengers die on the cruise ships because heart gives away under such a pressure. Though they might be a little tiresome sometimes during my working hours, I still feel compassion for them and try to be understanding when I see they are a little lost (not to mention the language barrier). In fact, I am glad when I see couple of very elderly friends traveling together and still having their own little adventure, even at such late chapter in life.
Mr.Koeberich traveled alone - I know nothing about him, was he a widower or single gentleman, apparently nobody knew him. All we can tell is that he had nice, intelligent eyes and was curious about cultural sights of Yalta - he had chosen to see not commercial tourist traps but museums, galleries and castles. And perhaps it was all too much for his heart, all that walking up and down, the sheer physical effort was perhaps too exhausting and eventually probably the heart gave away. What stops me in my track and made me think about him not as another number in statistics but as a human being who lived between us just a moment ago is the fact that death never comes in "appropriate moment" - in this case in the middle of the cruise. Mr.Koberich never expected this would be his last journey, had he known this, he would probably stay at home instead packing his luggage and carefully selecting which shore excursions he wants to see. Each single of us has his own plans, dreams and "things to do" but we can't possibly know the exact moment when this earthly life will end for us. If we know, we might relax a little bit and take it easy without getting upset or stressed, letting life flow its natural flow. As it happened, Mr.Koeberich never finished his cruise and had not seen the places he wanted to see, at the end of that day he has already left our world. The final chapter came unexpectedly as it would for all of us. Of thousand of people here on this ship (his death was kept a secret as not to upset the other passengers) I might be the single person who mourns him and waves goodbye to him, because he travelled alone and did not had friends with him. Rest in peace, Mr.Koeberich.
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