Buen Camino

My daughter developed a blog to inform and communicate our Camino journey. It was the first time my wife and I and our two daughters had hiked a Camino. We took the Portuguese Interior Way, and additionally, the Spiritual Variant. I am 80 years old. My wife is in her 70’s. It was too hot in San Antonio to train, so we trained by doing Mall walking. We worked up to 8 to 12 miles and walked four
or five times a week.

I did not contribute daily to the blog. I cannot ‘type’ using the texting method. I have to write sitting behind a keyboard. That allows me to collect my thoughts and have a few notes laying around. My daughter’s blog captures the gist of our journey, and I will not replicate that here. I want to simply share some broader perspective on our Camino experience.

We flew into Porto, Portugal. Our daughters had never visited Fatima, so we began by visiting that marvelous holy place for a few days. We began our walking journey from Tui, hiked for about 11 days thorough beautiful country sides, hills, villages and cities, finally arriving at our destination—Santigo de Compostela. When arriving there, tears of joy streamed down our faces, and I hugged my wife
and said, ‘Doll, we made it.’

It’s hard to explain the range of emotions experienced when hiking the Camino. We thought it would be cool during early October. It was hot. In fact, record heat. The four of us ate breakfast, lunch, and dinner together. Often at night, we would lounge about and visit. The family time bound us together into a cohesive unit. We were all sharing the same experiences. If the trail was steep, it was steep for
all of us. Same for if it was rocky. The heat made all four of us sweat—profusely. We went to Mass whenever possible. We passed some large churches, some small ones, and each of them provided a moment for prayer. We also prayed in silence while walking. We collected our inner personal thoughts, and had private talks with God. I often invoked our Holy Mother for assistance. More than once I
asked her to take my hand and help me over a rough patch.

I often thanked my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, for all my blessings, especially the greatest blessing He ever gave me—my wonderful wife. I thanked Him for our children and grandchildren. Thanking God for all my blessings gave me joy during the pain often felt during the walk.

At 80 years of age, I doubt that I will ever do another Camino. However, the memories of the many experiences will last a lifetime—and will spill into the heavenly eternities.

Buen Camino.
Gene T.