Santiago

JIM:  Had breakfast, including coffee son Jake got for me at 6am. Hit the road by 615 and marched straight through some 4-5 hrs and 12-13 miles. We entered the city and finally the iglasia. I went to get my final certificate with Dave. Lairceo had beaten us there and was weeping with joy. I remained rather sober until I met the lady who gave me my certificate. I had been worried about what to tell her as to why I did the Camino. It was for personal reasons,not religeous, but I did not want to lie to her. It is said you must say "religeous" to get your certificate. Anyway, when she said she was going to put the Latin name Jacob  for jim on my certificate, I started balling like a baby and I think she was embarrassed to ask me. I felt like I carried my four sons on the camino with me, as I thought about them a lot . So when she wrote Jacob, it opened up the flood gates. So I got the certificate without lying about why. Right on!

  We then went to the church for mass at 12. All of our family of 17 or so where there and we all sat together! Perhaps more than coincidence! It was very emotional for all of us and I passed out tp for the tear removal. It was a beautiful church and ceremony with the church packed and priests from 7 or so countries. The take home lesson was take the camino home with you,! They then lit the incense and floated the magnificent crucible the entire length of the church. Really unbelievable.

   I hope that someone close to me does the camino. Being more than a bit of a cynic about such stuff I was blown away. It really does change lives. Buen camino!

DAVE: So here we are. We arrived in Santiago today after what seemed like a very long walk. Actually, it was only 19 kilometers but I guess the anticipation made our walk seem endless. We walked in total darkness for about an hour and a half, guided by our headlamps. Without them, we couldn't walk. It was pitch black. 

I remember talking to my dear friend, Mike, on May 7th of this year about our upcoming Camino. Mike remarked that he didn't think he would be able to do something like that, due to the fact he was getting up there in years and his knees aren't what they used to be. I remember telling him that I walked with a friend last year that was 73 and was on bis third Camino!  Sadly, Mike passed away a couple weeks after I spoke to him, but I carried some of his ashes with me the entire way.  Mike was with us for each and every step, and now Mike will forever be a part of the Camino. From the top of the Pyrenees, to the mountains of Galicia, to Santiago, and Finistere. Mike will be there with the endless pilgrims that walk day after day, year after year, watching over them from above.

It is too soon to put my emotions into words n this day, but I do know one thing.  I also wish that in the future a relative of mine (a nephew, niece?) will have the opportunity to walk The Way and experience the many wonderful things I have. I hope that when (hopefully, not if) they do, they will think of the pilgrimage I made with Jim and Laercio, Rosie, Wendy, Lei, and the many other friends we made in the Fall of 2015. Buen Camino!