The last two days of walking were the hardest for me. I got the stomach flu that is moving through the group of pilgrims we have been walking with. I remembered our pediatrician´s advice when the kids were sick -- the BRAT diet -- bananas, rice, applesauce, toast. So the next day I managed to get a banana and some toast down for breakfast. Needless to say, I felt pretty wiped out and our ¨short¨ 20 k might as well have been 40k. Even yesterday when we started our last day´s walk I was still shaky, but feeling better.
The walk into Santiago was incredibly emotional. I don´t know if I ever let myself think about finishing the Camino because it seemed so daunting. Tom and I were both pretty quiet for most of the morning and we both cried a good bit as we got closer to the city. (Yes ... Tom was crying too -- it wasn´t just me!) Entering the Gate of Santiago was incredible. At first we didn´t realize that we were actually at the Cathederal! I think we both felt an incredible sense of awe as we walked into the Cathedral and just sat in one of the pews -- I don´t think either of us knew what we were feeling at that moment. After a few minutes we began to wander around the cathedral with the other pilgrims and tourists, both sobbing. After a while, we went to the Pilgrim´s office to get our official ¨compostela¨ certifying that we had completed the pilgrimage. There I could hardly speak and Tom was not in much better shape. When the official asked if we had walked the whole way, we both just nodded through our tears. Was he kidding?? One woman next to us actually stuck her booted foot up on the counter in answer to that question! One absolute highlight was that we got to see the botafumeiro at the evening mass we attended! Tom has a video of the whole thing.
We have had such joyful moments yesterdy and today as we have celebrated with our fellow pilgrims and as we have been reunited with pilgrims we had become separated from and thought we would not see again.
For me, one story captures many of our feelings. In Astorga we shared a room in the albergue with an older man from New Jersey -- Guy. He was there before us and we first met him when he shuffled into the room in a complete frazzle, briefly acknowledged our introduction and told us he was Guy and then left in a rush saying he had lost something. Needless to say, Tom and I though he was a pretty odd duck. Later when he returned he explained that he had lost his gloves and had to find new ones. The thing is, shortly after he returned with the new gloves, he found his ¨lost¨ gloves.
We got to talking and learned that Guy is 74 and began walking on March 19 in St. Jean. He taught English in Japan for many years until his retirement. He told us he had wanted to walk the Camino for fifteen years and had planned to do so when he retired. Unfortunately his mother was ill at that time and he could not leave. So, at 74, he finally had the time to walk.
We met Guy off and on for the next several days as he stayed at the same albergues with us, We rarely walked with him because he would sleep in his clothes for the next day and get up at 6 and start. He told us that he never took breaks because he was afraid he would not keep going once he stopped.
Over these days we became good friends. Guy quickly got to know the other walkers travelling along with us and got absorbed into our group. Guy´s forgetfulness became legendary. In O Cebreiro, he lost the stylus for his smart phone (and this time her really lost it) and left his wallet in the bar twice when he was trying to look for the stylus! He got the wallet back as by that time, everyone was looking out for him.
But a few days ago, his forgetfulness took a bad turn. He lost the charger and headphones for his phone -- and they were good and lost. None of us could find them. It turns out Guy texts and skypes with his wife in New Jersey several times every day. The phone is like a lifeline for him and he needs the headphones to hear his wife. It´s not unusual for him to text her about menu items to ask her to find out what is in them before he orders. He was incredibly upset about the loss. But he was also upset with himself for losing yet another item. Nothing we could say helped, and he left the albergue the next morning almost in tears. That was the last time we saw Guy until today.
We knew he was okay and that he got a new charger and headphones, because others saw him along the way. But the whole transaction put him about a half day behind us.
Today as we waited for our group to gather to go to the pilgrim mass, Jacob spotted Guy across the square in front of the Cathedral. Tom, Jacob and I took off running to greet him. Below I have attached the picture Tom took. Guy, Jacob and I are laughing and crying. It was an incredible moment. The victory of making the walk, the support and friendship of fabulous people, the weight of a thousand years of history, the faith that moved through many of us, all these were present when we could celebrate the Camino with Guy! All of us almost broke down then and there.
Tomorrow Tom and I are off to Finisterre -- known to medieval europeans as the end of the world. Its the westernmost point in Europe and the tradition has arisen for pilgrims to walk or bus there to burn their boots or some other item from their walk and to watch the sun set on the Atlantic ocean with friends. We are staying the night and will return to Santiago on Saturday when we are rewarding ourselves with a night at the Parador Hotel. It's not the one Martin Sheen and his crew stayed in for ¨The Way¨, (the movie Parador was in Leon) but just as good! We decided that we needed to wait until we had finished for this splurge! Sunday we are off for France. We will keep you posted.
Liz
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