Four years ago, I was in a wheelchair.

In August 2021, a bike accident left me with a broken tibia, fibula, and kneecap. What followed was a much longer road than I expected: surgery, poor healing, infection, more procedures, hardware removal, IV antibiotics, and eventually a knee replacement. For a long time, walking was hard. I limped. I was tired all the time. My body felt unfamiliar to me.

But in the water, I felt almost normal. I wasn't limping. I wasn't fighting gravity. I could move, I could breathe, I could feel strong again. Swimming became more than exercise — it became recovery, sanity, and proof that my body was still mine.

I'm deeply grateful to Dr. Bob Marchand and his PA, John Rodger, at Ortho Rhode Island who walked with me through every step of that road back.

This year I turned 65. It's also the 50th anniversary of the Save The Bay Swim. So when I thought about what to do with this chapter, the answer felt obvious: register for my first-ever Save The Bay Swim — a 2-mile open water swim across Narragansett Bay, from Newport to Jamestown.

The Bay has been part of my life for years — a place of beauty, restoration, and connection. Swimming across it is a way to honor that, and to support the work of Save the Bay, which has spent decades protecting these waters. A group of us who swim together at Rocky Point State Park formed a team for the occasion: the Rocky Point Tide Breakers. Strong, joyful, scrappy — it fits.

I'm swimming because clean water matters. Because aging should include new adventures. And because sometimes, after you walk through the fire, you get to meet yourself again in the water.

I'd be grateful for your support — a donation, a cheer, or just good energy on August 8th. 

Here's to 50 years of this swim, 65 years of life, and one very grateful first-time swimmer.