Sarah Thomas: Marathon Swimmer

Marathon swimmer Sarah Thomas reflects on the enormous highs and sinking lows of the past few years. 

Fair warning, this column isn’t about swimming. The only thing swimmy about it is that I identify as a swimmer. However, as the seasons are changing from winter to spring, I wanted to take a moment to reflect. These last few years have been filled with enormous highs and sinking lows, and this winter has been tough in new and unusual ways. But, as winter fades, my heart feels full of gratitude for the blessings of life, which is never guaranteed.

This past weekend, my husband Ryan and I travelled to Las Vegas to celebrate the lives of his maternal grandparents. Grandpa passed in April of 2020, just as the pandemic was heating up, after an eight-year battle with dementia. We weren’t able to travel to be together, and at the time Grandma said she was okay waiting until the world calmed down before hosting his memorial. 

In the years following his passing, Grandma started to struggle with health issues of her own, after ignoring them while she was acting as caregiver. We last saw her in September at my brother-in-law’s wedding. Hugging her goodbye at the end of the weekend, Ryan said “We’ll see you at Christmas”, to which she replied, “If I make it that long.” Her prophecy came true when she passed in November.

Because of a backlog at the Veteran’s Memorial Cemetery, we weren’t able to gather as a family for the memorial for another three months. Because so much time had already passed, I was wholly unprepared for the emotions the weekend brought.

As I watched the slideshow of photographs of their lives together, starting with a young and very handsome Grandpa as a lifeguard and a glamorous Grandma on her wedding day, all the way through the births of their children and grandchildren and great-grandchildren, highlighting weddings, family trips, and happy memories I couldn’t stop the tears from flowing.

They lived a simple life. They were hardworkers who loved each other through the good times and the tough ones. They were not rich, but they passed so much down to their family in the form of love as it expanded and grew over the years. I’d heard most of the family lore in the past, but this trip brought new stories, new recollections and sepia-toned photographs from the 50s. They may not have been my grandparents, but they welcomed me into their family and showered me with love just the same.

Sometimes, it’s easy to focus on our daily struggles and to forget the big picture. We rush from work to swims, always juggling, trying to cram more into our days. But, while the days can feel long, in the end life is short and what matters is not what we do or accomplish, but the legacy of love we leave in the hearts of those around us.

This article is from the March 2023 issue of Outdoor Swimmer. Click here to subscribe to the magazine.