Day 32 - Love, Hope, & Protection

“Those we love don’t go away. They walk beside us every day. Unseen, unheard, but always near. Still loved, still”― Alex MacLean

I arrived in O Milladoiro this afternoon; I’m just a few short miles from Santiago and will complete my journey tomorrow.

When I left the comforts of my home, I carried with me tokens of love, hope, and protection. LOVE: my parents’ cremation tags; I wanted to have them in some way accompany me on this journey. HOPE: my peace sign; a visual prayer for the world and my children. PROTECTION: While not catholic a dear friend gave me a rosary blessed by the late pope to protect me on my journey; it did its job Paul, thank you.

This has been quite the journey and I have met so many wonderful people from different countries and walks of life. This morning I ran into Dorka from Hungary, who I shared some wine with last night. She said she made some special bracelets to give out to people she met on the Camino and gave me one. What a lovely gesture. I’ve attached a photo of it and you’ll also notice how dark my hands are. I have a 3-tier farmers tan: my hands are very dark, the forearms a little lighter tan, and the upper part of my arms are pale 🤣🤣🤣

Today my friends Arlene, Rich, Deb, Kenny, and Noel made it to Santiago. However, their apartment for the night is in the town I’m in so we all went out to dinner. It was great catching up and sharing our stories since we diverged on different paths out of Porto (they did the Coastal and Spiritual while I stayed on the Central route).

Tomorrow the journey will end, but I will spend Thursday and Friday in Santiago. Saturday I fly to Madrid and then I fly home on Sunday.Read more