My Camino Family

Who is my Camino Family? They are the people who come into my life for a moment, a while, or repeatedly. They sometimes know my name: Hey, Washington, come sit with us or Look, Carina made it to town. They surprise me by showing up in surprising places. I videoed Mary's birthday greetings in 15 different languages and then saw her again at the Cathedral at Burgos with her parents who flew down from France to walk one day with her.

Katrina from Germany ate breakfast 4 weeks with me ago and tonight and she is sleeping in my dorm. Jennifer came into a hostel exhausted after walking 45K and we giggled in the showers like children as I explained my way to get around the rules of no washing clothes in the bathroom sinks. Yes, I wash them in the shower! Jennifer stopped her chemo for stage 4 cancer to walk the Camino and said I was the first person who didn't say Oh, sorry. We laughed a lot that night and at breakfast when she was eating with Amy who I had spent an hour in front of a locked church huddled together staying out of the rain. Amy is still working online while doing the Camino.

Today I walked with a young man from Germany whose mom and sister are teachers. He chatted for hours and got me across the hot meseta today.

My Camio Family supports me. We do not exchange phone numbers or plan visits, but the time we spend together is meaningful.Read more