About Yesterday morning (aug6) On Her Way to Cuba We found ourselves coming and going at the Key West airport at exactly the same time Sat. morning, in separate buildings. Diana Nyad and head swim handler Bonnie Stoll, on their way to Cuba at last, had already passed through security. Over the cell phone, Diana guided me along a row of taxis—“go outside, see the one with the sign on top, look through the window to your left of that.” Through the window, I could see Diana, her sharply pressed tailored shorts below a snappy team t-shirt 103 Nyad Xtreme Dream, laughing and waving delightedly, looking just like she did more than 30 years ago. Fearless, on her way adventuring again, she is in her element, feeling good. Suddenly Bonnie came into the frame, waving and laughing, too, all those hours and miles of training behind them, the grueling grind, Diana slogging through the water, Bonnie attending to her from the boat, all done. Many hundreds of miles already done in training—Diana has swum thousands in her career—but the crucial and final ones just ahead: 103 miles from Cuba to Florida. It’s inconceivable, unless you allow the possibility that what the human mind can accomplish may be limitless. Diana has had a lifetime of pushing her body beyond its seeming capacity—of extending her reach beyond its grasp—of looking fear in the face and laughing. And there she is as wide-eyed and confident as I saw her in 1978 when she swam 42 hours through the Gulf Stream, still going strong, when we had to force her from the water, our navigator having gone so far off course in bad weather that she could have stroked 100 more hours and never reached land. She wanted to go on then. And here she is, going on with it now.

This time, we’re all hoping, it will be different. This time, she intends to go from shore to shore to greet those faces at the end, waving and laughing and loving such a dramatic reminder that people can and do accomplish what seems impossible.

Through the airport window I see them hopping up and down like a couple of ten year olds. It’s a beautiful sight. That is the age of entitlement for a girl, the world open before her, she can do anything and all good things are possible. Looking happy, excited, on their way at last, Diana and Bonnie are reminding us there’s a 10 year old alive in us still, and she can be gleeful even in the face of the challenges ahead.

– Candace Lyle Hogan