Private Chef, Writer & Podcaster
Living with sarcoidosis and heart failure means facing down terrifying statistics, clueless predictions, and medical journals that act like they’re auditioning to narrate a true-crime documentary about my lungs. But in the middle of all that doom, I’ve learned to rewrite the script, trust my stubborn body, and keep choosing a life filled with humor, resilience, love, and the occasional hummingbird cameo.
For nearly two decades, I had a deep, complicated friendship with someone I never met in person. We bonded over email, phone calls, cancer, cats, and clashing work styles. Then one day, I almost didn’t pick up the phone. This is a story about unexpected grief, long-distance connections, and why you should never let a call go to voicemail.
A chef living with chronic illness discovers that sometimes life’s soggy disappointments lead to unexpected beauty—like when a canceled dog walk turns into a rainbow moment that slaps you with perspective. A story about resilience, humor, and finding color in the drizzle.
At sixteen, a quiet walk home turned into the scariest night of my life — and the moment I found the fighter hiding inside me. What began as terror became transformation, proving that courage doesn’t wait for permission. This is the story of how I went from frozen in fear to running on pure fire.
Tate Basildon 