For me, personal history - and video biography - is all about the stories. Remembering, sharing and celebrating the life stories of individuals, people like you and me, is what it's all about. And that's why I found myself and my wife Halina in line with hundreds of other Tucsonans on a warm April day, waiting for the opening of the "Titanic Experience," a traveling exhibit telling the story of one of the greatest sea disasters of all time.

I've been interested in the Titanic story since I was a kid. What's the attraction? Naturally, there's the ship: a technological marvel by the standards of its day, destroyed as much by hubris as by ice. But mostly for me, it's about the passengers. From the wealthiest and most influential people of the time to the poorest immigrants - the Titanic carried them all. I've often wondered what it was like to be a passenger or crewperson on the ship, whether dining in first-class, passing time in the crowded third-class accommodations or sweating the daily shifts in the engine room in the bowels of the steamer. And, of course, I've often shuddered imagining what it might have been like facing the prospect of death while the ship succumbed to the icy Atlantic waters.

The "Titanic Experience" did a great job of incorporating personal history into the exhibit. As Halina and I stepped to the front of the line, we were each handed a "boarding pass." On the back of each pass was personal information describing one of the actual passengers on the steamship. I became Mr. Paul Edvom Adreasson, a third-class passenger. Paul was 20. He was traveling from Smáland, Sweden to Chicago, Illinois. He was a blacksmith by trade. Halina's alter ego was Mrs. Darwin Touma (Hanna Toussef Razi). Hanna was 29, a native of Tbinin, Lebanon. Accompanied by her 9 year-old daughter and 7 year-old son, she was headed to Michigan to join her husband.

Our new identities in hand, we paused to have our picture snapped in front of a backdrop of the grand staircase (see the photo at the top of the newsletter). Then, into the exhibit we went. We saw depictions of the ship's facilities from the passenger areas to the giant furnaces where the coal fires burned. There was also an animated video showing what happened to the ship as it sank after its fatal iceberg collision.

For me, the final room of the exhibit was the most interesting. It housed personal items recovered from the wreck itself. We saw buttons, cufflinks and other jewelry; a fountain pen; even a suit of clothes. These personal items really put a human face on the tragedy and made we wonder about people who once used and wore them. Finally, there was the wall of names - it listed each passenger and noted whether he or she survived the sinking.

The exhibit was sponsored by Country Financial, an insurance company serving my neck of the woods. I don't know how far the exhibit will travel; hopefully other sponsors will step forward to bring the exhibit to other cities throughout the U.S.

By the way, I'm sorry to say that Paul didn't make it. Hannah had more luck; she and her children survived.

- - Steve Pender