Like a petulant child, I have not written for almost six months. Leaving the Camino had a profound effect on me that I’ve been trying to understand and cope with.
While walking, I met so many people who I now consider to be my friends. Leo who I have probably not been as good a friend as I should have been and he lives right here in the Dallas area.
Dawn and Nallie from South Africa, we were lucky to have met them in New Orleans while they were here. Genuinely good people who I hope to see as often as I can but, SA is a long way from here. Dawn, if you ever read this, thank you for being my Big Sister on the Camino, you’ll never know how much it meant to me.
Bernie and Nigel from Northern Ireland. As far as I can remember, we really became friends in Estella over G&T’s. You were the last of my Camino family that I saw in the lobby of our hotel in Santiago. As I walked to the train station, I was already missing you.
The Professors, Chris and Steve. They’re the friends that I see and communicate with on a regular basis. The Camino would have been a different place had I not met you both.
Alex, my Camino son or little brother. What a kind heart you have and I enjoy your emails when I get them. Be well my friend and I hope you make it to Dallas next summer.
The person who best represents the spirt of the Camino to me, I met on my next to last day as I walked up to the lighthouse at Finisterre. Katja from Frankfurt and I met as we stopped about half way up to the lighthouse to take a picture of the last Pilgrim statue. It was meant to be that we were walking alone and we needed someone to take our picture. We walked the rest of the morning together talking about all sorts of things. Since we parted, we’ve continued our conversation, both of us trying to comprehend the meaning of our individual Camino’s. Friends like her are what the Camino Spirit are all about.
All of these people and those not listed specifically contributed to an event that has changed how I look at myself and the world around me. They’ve helped me understand how lucky I am to have my wife, family and friends.
So many things have happened since I last wrote, now that I can process them, I’ll be writing more.