Caroline and I landed late in the afternoon at the Baltimore airport, my daughter Jessica arriving a couple of hours earlier. It took another half hour for the three of us to find one another; admittedly, cell phones would have come in handy here.

Across the Chesapeake Bay, we check into our hotel in St. Michaels and then take a night drive out to Tilghman Island.

Back in May, my mother-in-law Jutta and I were here and went sailing on the Lady Patty with Cpt. Chris Richards and his first mate Helen – we had a blast. Tomorrow, just before daybreak, Caroline, Jessica, and I are scheduled to go sailing aboard the Lady Patty for a sunrise tour on the Chesapeake. At 6:15 a.m., our host Cpt. Chris arrives with the bad news that Helen has been injured and that he must cancel our trip due to the emergency situation. Sadly, this will have been the last time we will ever see Cpt. Chris because six days later, on October 1st, he was involved in a tree-felling accident with injuries that would take his life. To see a photo of Cpt. Chris, Helen, and my mother-in-law, click here,

A dark night on Tilghman Island, where lives were making changes and taking turns.