Swimming With Dolphins

If I could have one profession (other than Mom), I'd be a dolphin trainer. Seriously. I realize some of you may have guessed beekeeper, but no, it's dolphin (or killer whale) trainer.

As a kid, all I remember wanting to be was a veterinarian. I didn't really play with dolls, but loved "examining" our poor dog Frisky with my Fisher-Price doctor's kit. However, I soon realized that being an actual vet involved a lot of blood and biology (two things I wasn't good at) and occasionally watching animals suffer and perish. I let go of that dream, and somewhere along the way the dream of working with dolphins took over.

I'm the person after the dolphin show that rushes up and asks the trainer a million questions. I'd happily sit in front of the dolphin exhibit at SeaWorld or an aquarium for hours. My favorite place in Las Vegas is the Mirage's Secret Garden, which gets bonus points for having dolphins and tigers! So of course the top spot of my kind-of-non-existent-but-still-thought-of-bucket list has long been held by "swim with dolphins".

When I was diagnosed with cancer, my parents told me that when I got through all my treatments and was feeling better, they'd take me to Discovery Cove. The years passed and things came up (one of them being our big journey to Kazakhstan!), until this year when my dad said "it's time". I couldn't have agreed more.

A week ago this morning we arrived at Discovery Cove where my mom, Bob and I were told our dolphin interaction was scheduled for 2:10. That left a few hours to wait, but I was happy to be exploring the lazy river and snorkeling the coral reef with my family, and the day passed quickly. And then it was time to report to the Seahorse Cabana!

I sat in the short pre-swim presentation fighting back tears - it was finally here! Soon we were wading into the water as the trainer called in Madison, a young female dolphin still learning the ropes and not always thrilled to be the subject of adoration. Eight of us stood in a line as Maddie swam slowly by, allowing us to reach out and touch her. She was smooth and slick and beautiful (and a little spongy).

The trainer must have sensed my interest (or perhaps my rapt attention and rapid-fire questions tipped her off), and she let me cup my hands under Maddie's chin to gently raise her face out of the water so we could see where she once had whiskers - yes, dolphins are born with hair! A few more stokes of her tummy and then we each stepped forward to give her a kiss on the nose.

Maddie did a wonderful job, but when it was time for our ride, the trainer called in an old pro ... Dixie, the matriarch of the pod. You could tell she was older; her teeth were more worn, and her gray skin was more covered with rake marks (dolphins explore everything, including each other, with their teeth).

We swam out to deep water, and one by one slipped next to Dixie, placing one hand on her dorsal fin and one hand on a flipper, and then that sweet, intelligent, gentle creature brought us into shallow water once more. I wasn't permitted to ride with Dixie in a circle around the lagoon, although I did ask, probably much to Bob's embarrassment.


Yeah, look at my smile. I wish I could have been out there with Maddie and Dixie all day.

Thank you Mom and Dad for allowing one of my dreams to come true. It was magical to me and I will never forget that feeling. Thank you Bob, Cearra and Owen for joining me on this adventure!

So ... when can we go again??



The trainers were awesome - they allowed Cearra and Owen to come in and join us for a picture with Dixie.


Bob bought me a new charm for my bracelet ... dolphin's flukes are akin to our fingerprints; each one is unique. This charm is an exact copy of Dixie's flukes.