Oct 3
Last week while walking on our Camino in Spain, I had a long conversation with Moon, a retired Korean-American living in New Jersey. We talked about baseball (he is a Philadelphia Phillies fan), the politics of North and South Korea, and kimbap (a rice and seaweed food popular in Korea).
After an hour of pleasant conversation, I was deeply moved when Moon shared with me that he is walking the Camino as a memorial to his wife, who had died in July. We have seen a number of physical memorials others of placed- crosses on fences, cairns of stones with photographs and names of loved ones.
His sharing reminded me of how fortunate I am to be walking the Camino with Jane- as my partner, not as a memorial- and that we are still both healthy enough to do this together.
In the movie The Way, Martin Sheen plays a dentist whose son, Daniel, died on the first stage of the Camino. Sheen’s character then decided to continue the pilgrimage on Daniel’s behalf, depositing his ashes at key points along The Way.
As mentioned in previous posts, Jane and I have been extremely blessed to have all four of our children (plus Christine) walking at least several days with us on the Camino.
And Ben has been with us the whole journey (except for several side trips), and plans to complete the pilgrimage with us in Santiago de Compostela.
In the movie, the dentist repeatedly sees visions of Daniel (who was actually acted by the producer of the film).
What a privilege for Jane and I to see not a vision, but the real Ben, as he walks beside us, treats us to special meals, laughs at my dad jokes, and accompanies us on this incredible journey. Tonight we are in the San Javier Albergue (hostel) in the cathedral city of Astorga.
530 km (318 miles) walked, 270 km (162 miles) to go.
