Yesterday was my birthday and it was a big one. Not because it was a big decade milestone like 40 or 50, but because it happened at all.

A year ago we spent my actual birthday going into Seattle for an appointment at UW to determine if I had deteriorated to the point that I’d need to live in the hospital until my heart transplant. The good news was that I could continue to live at home. The bad news was that it didn’t make me feel any better at all and I was admonished once again to throttle back on my activities, told to stop doing the grocery shopping, and reminded that they felt my heart was coming soon, very soon.

My sister Priscilla was in town and when we got home from Seattle that evening, Derek made his famous gourmet burgers, we ate red velvet cake, watched “Below Deck” (Priscilla got me hooked), and opened my gifts from Derek. He gave me a food scale (I legit asked for it, so don’t hate!), 3 books on African safaris and the seed money to begin saving for our dream trip to Africa.

Honestly, that dream never seemed quite as far away and hopeless as it did at that very moment. I couldn’t trek across my living room without stopping to catch my breath… so I couldn’t fathom that there would be a time I’d finally trek up a mountain to see gorillas. I went to bed that night a year ago as I did every night, exhausted and scared. And I awoke the next day (on June 26th, 2018) as I did every morning, exhausted and scared.

Fast forward one heart transplant and one year later.

Yesterday I celebrated my birthday by waking up invigorated like I do every day and spending the afternoon at the pool, being a champagne-drinking unicorn with my friend Tina. We then met The Boy and her husband Shon at the marina and shared a sunset sail on the Three Jaze, a 42-foot luxury sailboat.* During the sail, we ate an incredibly delicious 5-course meal prepared by a private chef on board.** We anchored in Blakely Harbor, drank champagne, danced to songs by Johnny Mathis, ate until we could all burst, laughed and laughed and watched the sun set. It wasn’t like watching “Below Deck.” It was like being on “Below Deck!"

Honestly, it was magical.

This morning, I awoke on June 26th, 2019 feeling happy and excited and loved. And this afternoon, I completed the paperwork and purchased our dream African safari trip. We will spend 16 glorious days in Kenya and Uganda, including 2 days of trekking to see those gorillas I told you all about last year— the ones that caused me to remove myself from The List for 30 days so that I could get the yellow fever vaccine (transplant patients cannot get the vaccine post-transplant).

It’s amazing what can happen in a year, you guys.

So just remember, no matter how dark it gets, no matter how pointless and hopeless it seems… keep running towards the light.

And maybe get a yellow fever vaccine, just in case.

We sailed with Blue Whale Sail, from Eagle Harbor. Captain John & his lovely wife/First Mate Janaea run an exceptional, first class show! They worked with us closely to design an experience and a menu that was just right, and threw in some lovely extras. They offer many different sailing packages— I cannot recommend them highly enough. And they have the best playlist!

Our menu was designed and prepared by chef Kat Gyorgy of GypsyKat Kitchen. She served a 5-course meal perfectly suited to our tastes (and my transplant-induced restrictions). All items were bought fresh same-day at Pike Place Market or foraged from the chef’s own garden. The menu included: Fresh shrimp cocktail, a lovely antipasti platter, halibut cheeks served over roasted tomato and fennel risotto, a fresh romaine salad with edible flowers, and strawberry shortcake with the freshest sweetest little strawberries I’ve ever tasted.