From Sally

Our great friend Sally sent me some thoughts on the journey - mine and Louise's - and I asked her if she could turn them into a 'guest blog'. Here they are.   Health warning: reading this may involve tears, but they will be worth it.

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Dear David,

I hadn't thought of Louise's last journey as a pilgrimage until I read your blog. 

Then I started to see a pattern – her journey like a reflection in the lake, of yours. Or perhaps your journey is a reflection of hers?

Writing this has felt like processing Louise’s pilgrimage a little. Reading about your route, I have been able to think about hers (which I didn't really want to do). It has helped me to reflect on how she navigated the toughest of terrains, and now I can write about it, say it.

But my musings may not be helpful to you, If they are not, do delete them. We walk at different paces, and are helped by different views.

David: There was something significant about starting out on foot, carrying the pack, even when it was in the familiar streets around where I live.

For Louise: Your pilgrimage began in your home town, when you left your familiar street for the last time, and lay down in a hospital bed.

David: I'm wearing conventional clothing rather than walking gear for travelling to France, and a change of clothing for when I reach Santiago and want to feel more civilised again.  I'm going to entrust all that lot to the 'Donkey Express' which will take stuff from one end of the Camino to the other.  Perhaps there's something significant in that, too, lightening the load for the real journey.

For Louise: You shed your usual clothes and put on a hospital gown, because it was all you needed.

David: I walked down through the town, pausing at the Church for a few minutes and leaving a candle burning, then headed off along the Way. 

For Louise: It was a habit of yours to stop regularly in the day, pausing to think of the God you loved, the God who loved you.

David: From there it's around 10 km and once again 700m of climb to the top…. from the time I turned off the road at the Thibaut Cross I was walking alone, and stayed that way for a couple of miles.  A good time to think as I walked. Then, round a corner, was the top - the Col de Lepoeder, and one pilgrim sitting at it - she'd started at 4am! 

For Louise: Baby Zoe. A mountaintop. How you had longed to see her. How thrilled you were to meet her, to hold her.

David: Today was a day of catching up with people I'd seen in St Jean, or Orisson.   We were all moving at different paces, influenced by the terrain, but I may see a few more around this town this evening.

For Louise: It was a time of catching up with people. A time for people to say how much you meant to them, and in words or silent actions, say “I love you”. The journey was different for each person who came to sit with you; we were all moving at different paces, as we navigated this precipitous terrain.

David: Again, good to be talking to people and finding connections as I walk some of the way, with other sections alone. It does seem particularly important to have someone to talk to towards the end of the walk when fatigue is setting in. 

For Louise: Family and friends sat with you day and night, to be there with you at the end of the walk, when you were so weak, so exhausted.

David: 

"Therefore lift your drooping hands

and strengthen your weak knees,

and make straight paths for your feet,

so that what is lame may not be put out of joint

but rather be healed."

For Louise: For as long as you could assent to it, you wanted to pray with me. Your hands and legs did not grow strong on this Earth, but you found the straight paths that lead to healing.

David, this pilgrimage of yours takes you aside for a time, away from the mainstream of life, to spend time with yourself, and God, and people you would not otherwise have met, who can enrich you, and you them.

Louise's pilgrimage took her aside too, to spend time with herself, and her God, and be enriched by people she would not have met otherwise, like the Buddhist from the chaplaincy with whom she really enjoyed discussing spirituality, and the wonderful people who cared for her. That was a whole new path for her wasn't it? She always did the caring. And you enriched us Louise, how you enriched us.

More of Sally's thoughts (17 September):

David: On the way we stopped at Viana for a coffee, and a look at the church (which, like the church in Beeston, is dedicated to the Assumption, but with several hundred years of advantage in decoration terms!).

For Louise: The Church of the Assumption is a beautiful connection between us, across borders, isn’t it? A reminder that we are still connected, still l'église, gathering across all the expanses of time and space, to meet with the Light.

David: “… stopped for an orange juice at Azofra - which was the 200km mark! - and Mary came past, and from just after that point we walked and talked together all day. The weather has been lovely, and the landscapes are beautiful and empty.”

For Louise : It is as if Louise is sending you gifts, David. The gift of someone to walk and talk with, making that day’s empty landscape in your heart, beautiful. How glad I am that you are accepting them….

David: “… good conversations, and then a communal dinner, so much to be thankful for.”

For Louise : … and that you are grateful for them.

David: “Another couple of km to Rabé de la Calzadas where there was a small wayside chapel, and where a religious sister was dispensing pilgrims' blessings and medals. I noticed on the leaflet she provided that this is a ministry of the order based at the chapel in the Rue de Bac in Paris, where lie the relics of Ste Louise de Marillac, co-founder of the SVP, after whom Louise was named. And that brought memories of going with Louise to find the chapel in Paris, and of her finding a place to sit in the sun amid the bustling visitors and a hot Paris day, and taking a few moments of calm. Outside the chapel it was a happy memory; writing about it now brings tears.”

For Louise: More gifts David, from the resting place of Louise’s namesake - a medal for the distance you have travelled emotionally, spiritually, mentally and physically - and a benediction for the path ahead.

It’s as if Louise herself gave you the medal and pronounced the benediction - an encouragement to strengthen you in advance for the flatter, more tedious terrain which you will now simply have to slog through, sometimes marching, sometimes plodding, but keeping going.

David: It's really strange how you think people have gone ahead, or you've left them behind - with some regret, but knowing that's the way the Camino works - and then there they are again. 

For Louise: You had to leave so many of us behind, Louise, but what a delight it must be for you to see once again, so many people who went ahead of you. And someday we will catch you up. I like to think about that.

David: “…León hides until you come over a hill and see it. Unlike the villages, it's a sizeable city with industry, suburbs and a centre full of people. I rather like it - and tomorrow is to be a rest day, so I can go on liking it for an extra day!

For Louise: Eternal rest is an awful phrase – not in the slightest bit appealing. But rest is not boring at all. It’s healing and restoration and joy. After the longest and most bruising of journeys, it’s a time to explore the beautiful new place you have arrived in, and it’s time to gather …

David: “It turns out to be the Octave of Our Lady of the Camino, the patron saint of the Cathedral and of Leon. The actual feast is Monday, but all the evening Masses are in the main Cathedral rather than the chapel usually used. So a bit special!

We'll have a group of the pilgrims meeting before Mass this evening so and going on to one of the many restaurants for food, drink and talking together. I'm looking forward to it.”

For Louise: This is one of the joys of pilgrimage. It is at the heart of God, to create a community of people, from different backgrounds, different cultures and countries, coming together to worship and share a meal. I like to think of you, Louise, gathering with people throughout time, laughing, worshipping and sharing a meal.