Tribute
If I – a pilgrim – may be so bold, audacious even, let me tell you this: you are in my thoughts today. And I have a surprise for you.
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I am fulfilling a desire, a calling, to walk the path as a pilgrim like millions before me. This sojourn to Santiago de Compostela in the western corner of Spain near “the end of the earth” calls me. Having accepted, I will walk as a pilgrim or la peregrina. That’s right. I will walk 867 kilometers or 539 miles across the country on the camino del Norte, along the northern coast.
There are No Coincidences in Life
I had no idea that I would meet you as I train for my walk. Let me say that it feels like I walked the length of a camino already. My feet were burning, my toes were hurting, and I needed a rest. I walked by the high school and as I got closer, I saw two granite benches.
My first thought was ‘oh, respite for my weary feet’. Then I saw that one bench had engraved on its front edge: “FAILURE: NOT AN OPTION”. At that moment, I felt it was a message, a precursor to my experience as a pilgrim. I needed to deal with the pain and keep on with my journey.
When I look up, I want the sun to touch my face. I pray for a cool drink of water when I need it. There may be times when I have to rest and find that the ground is my only choice. But, today, I can sit here for a little while. Right?
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After I sat down, I saw your name engraved on the bench opposite from where I sat.
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Who are You?
At first, I was sad, because I knew in my heart that the bench was dedicated to a young person, perhaps gone too soon. I tried to imagine how you looked, what kind of person you were while you walked here on this earth, and why you left.
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As I ministered to my briefly unshod foot, the pain I felt lightened when I thought about you, your mother and father, your siblings, cousins and friends. Yes, I know they miss you.
Long ago, my family lost a young son, my brother, almost your age. He, like you, had gone much too soon. It broke my mom and dad’s hearts. The pain, that loss, never went away. It lessened but each of us keep our own piece deep inside, never, ever wanting to forget.
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I thought about how I came to this bench after graduating from the same high school many years ago. I suspect you beckoned me, today, to come sit and rest.
This is the first time that I stepped on this campus since I left to pursue my dreams around the world. You, on the other hand, had just begun your life as a high school student. What an honor to have that bench in front of the school doors so that future graduates can sit with you, learn, and remember. It seems that you were truly loved.
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I Cannot Stay
I thought about you when I finally stood up on my sore feet and walked the miles back home.
But I felt heavy-hearted when I found out what happened to you.
The sadness grew stronger when I discovered that you will never get the chance, through no fault of your own, to chase your dreams, to make them come true, or to be a pilgrim yourself.
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Pilgrim
This will be a personal, spiritual journey for me. If you wish, I will carry you in my heart across the ocean to walk the camino with the other pilgrims, las peregrinas, for 867 kilometers or 539 miles. We will walk, keeping our hearts open and flowing with the water, the dirt, the rocks, the animals, the sky, and the trees, seeking solace and respite each within ourselves.
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My answer… your answer… will be revealed before I leave this land to begin my Spanish pilgrimage, my camino.
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But you know, don’t you? I believe that you were just waiting for someone to walk with.
I will.
Young sis, may we make this journey… alone… together. We shall walk beneath a field of stars in a foreign land on the same path followed by ancient and present day pilgrims for a thousand years.
Buen Camino.
S♥️
6.19.2021
Nihil Nisi Optimum
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This and several posts during the summer of 2023 chronicled my pilgrimage in Spain where I actually walked 1400 kilometers on the camino Mozárabe, the Via de la Plata, and camino Sanabrès – northward, west, and north again – to Santiago de Compostela and beyond. Read my announcement here.
