GULF STREAM CROSSING #1

When Vince first started building our boat and we began contemplating sailing off-shore, I developed a very cavalier attitude towards life and death. At age 50 we saw ourselves at the halfway point. Looking back, how fortunate we were to have accomplished all of the things we had ever wanted to do—raising two wonderful children, enjoying fulfilling careers and traveling extensively throughout the world. And if death should come to us now, there’d be no regrets for things not done

Looking ahead however, with 50 years still possibly remaining—what to do? We could sit safely at home, lunching with friends, puttering in the garden, playing bridge. Same old. Same old—living a life where one really does nothing more than “tread water.” But we wanted to actually “swim” somewhere, washing up on sunny shores in search of new adventure. And if we died out there on some distant sea—no regrets. But if we lived—what a life we’d have!

It’s easy to take something for granted when there’s no immediate risk of losing it. But now that we’re actually out here and face the sobering reality of actually crossing the Gulf Stream within the next few days, I find myself having second thoughts…

These last few months living with Vince on our boat have been some of the happiest of my life. I have been infused with a love of living I thought I had lost along with my youth. I see things with new eyes—appreciating the wonder and beauty of the little things that surround me in everyday life. I cherish the relationships with others I have been privileged to enjoy throughout my lifetime and long to cement the bonds that tie me to friends and family with acts of love and generosity when I return in the summer. But most of all, I wish to see my grandchildren—Matthew and Lilly—once again. And to have the pleasure of watching them grow into the wonderful human beings that I know they will be.

Life is such a precious gift! Only now, when the prospect of losing it looms large do I realize how very blessed I have been to have been given it—at such a time in history, in such a place in the world, and with such remarkable people surrounding me.