Our Camino Family Grows

Our pin shows up all over the Camino these days!

We’ve gotten to know about 25 pilgrims who walk at approximately the same pace as we do.  We see them time after time on the Camino, and in town after town. Some we’ve become close with after sharing multiple meals, others we know only by name and a snippet of their story.  Many wear the pin we gave them.



Fred and Arlene will become forever friends. 

They're from Toronto and inspired us

by their joy and approach towards a simpler life. 

Gretchen is a hospital Chaplin in Seattle, Washington. 

 Her husband Brad is an accountant.  Note the pin she's wearing. 

 As she said, "I have a lot of Catholic clients --

I'll show them Mother Mary when I help them!"



We had dinner with everyone one night in Los Arcos



Mary is from Oxford, England and is walking alone (most pilgrims are...).

She became our Camino sister.  Her brother is an actor on the

West End of London and a vocal coach for "Britain's Got Talent". 

After her first blisters, I happily gave her my walking sandals. 

We wear the same size shoe! We're already planning our trip to England. 



William - also walking alone -- runs a Brahman cattle ranch in Zambia, Africa.  He started each day by calling out, "it's a wonderful day to walk, isn't it?"

He's committed to promoting indigenous African cattle breeds and showed us photos of a family in a local village raising a herd of cattle for him.  His only payment?  Half the calves that are born...   We knew we were parting and he wrote us the loveliest note: 

"Dear Ning and John, It has been a pleasure and an inspiration meeting you on the Camino Pilgrimage. Your love for each other stands out and anyone meeting you will go away with something special. Thank you for your gift of the pin. it will be treasured and passed on to the next generation."

This is what a Brahman cow looks like...

 

Chet is from the US -- walking the Camino after four military

deployments in the Middle East.



 

Two women from Sweden.  We all notice how the kilometers

drag at the end of a day.  As they both said,

"Swedish kilometers are shorter than Spanish kilometers!"

There’s a sense of trust and easy camaraderie among Camino travelers, and a joyful greeting whenever we unexpectedly bump into each other along the Camino. We’ll walk into a tiny village at mid-morning, stumble upon Camino friends having coffee, and plunk ourselves down.  We’ll round a bend and discover a friend who is taking a rest.  At day’s end the group at the pub swells as pilgrims stream into town. 

Yesterday we were walking across a plaza and heard our names being yelled out, leading to a glass of wine with Mary and a plan to meet for dinner.

We’ve said goodbye to several Camino friends who are on a faster walking schedule than we are. It’s always with a two-way invitation to see each other in the future. 

These cheerful Japanese women looked like merry little elves

on the Camino.  When we gave them a pin, they were thrilled

and said,  "The Father blessed us last night at Mass!".