To enrich a life….

This past Sunday, July 30, Chris O'Connell had Cherish The Day booked.   He intended to participate in a local, grassroots annual sailing event, Sail4Kids, hosted by the American Yacht Club in Rye, NY.  The event’s purpose is to “Make A Memory” for kids with significant health problems. But Chris was double-booked for the day, so it became our good fortune to stand in and represent him. 

My friend and first mate, Joyce Fabian and I shoved off from our Stamford slip at 11:00 am, in time for a perfect-day 1 ½ hour sail west down Long Island Sound to the American Yacht Club. We were unfamiliar with both Milton harbor and our roles, but by 1 pm we were in safe harbor on a guest mooring and being chauffeured to the staging area via the Club’s elegant launch.  Shortly thereafter we were introduced to the Swiecki parents, and their two children. 

We departed our mooring at 2:30 amidst a small flotilla of sloops and ketches, each with one or two families with a child with a significant health problem.  We headed out toward Execution Rock in 5 to 8 knots of wind, just enough to turn off the iron genny and give the family the experience of running silent under bright sails, full sun and flat water. 

It was an uncomplicated sail outbound toward Execution Rock, and we began the real joy of introducing this family to the sailing life.  Soon I was being bombarded with questions.  Each one began with “Captain Howard”.  The father asked questions about the mechanics of sailing, and how do you sail “into the wind.”  Daniel, the 14-year old son, soon captured us all with his infectious inquisiveness and singular focus on learning everything about sailing.  Nicole, the younger and more subdued daughter, commented when the rare spaces in the conversation appeared.  

Two hours later we were once again secure on our mooring.  The whole family had taken turns at the helm, pulled on and released the sail sheets, explored below and sunned on the bow, eaten watermelon and become enchanted with sailing.

For us the day appeared to be about sharing our world with new friends; the quiet satisfaction of observing children as their naive world expands; and the euphoria of being on the water on a perfect day, where, to quote the late John Denver, “sunshine nearly always makes me (us) high.”

For Joyce and me it was simply the familiar compelling joy of a Sunday daysail.  For the Swiecki family it was an introduction to a new world. 

In reality we cast a long shadow in the lives of others, but mostly do not know, and can not know, the extent to which this is true.  But every once in a while we are lucky enough to see the impact of our kindness unfold immediately.  Their introduction to sailing had morphed into a “must-do” and “must-share” together.  Their next step is locating a sailing school. They are launched!  We not only fulfilled our mission of providing an ill child with a much welcomed distraction, we were serendipitous players in a family moment that will never be forgotten (and they told us so more than once).   We were privileged enough to be part of a defining moment in their family story.  And we were lucky enough to know it.

As we said our goodbyes and sailed back to Stamford we knew we had completed our mission and beyond that had enriched a life.  Joyce and I cast off with sails and hearts full with gentle breezes and the noiseless satisfaction for purpose fulfilled.  What greater pursuit could there be than to enrich someone’s life?  Or did it happen the other way round?

Howard Edson

Joyce Fabian

Aboard “Cherish The Day”  July 30, 2006