My reason for walking.

A lot of you have asked me why. Why do I want to do this, why would I walk so far, why would I fly to Spain to walk this far, why do I walk with Lisa , why, why, why and the answer for me is because I felt drawn to do it. My life now is always busy even when I try to slow it down and I can't. I contemplate that often. I think about when my children were little and when life was slower and I long to get that back. I have come to realize that I did not need many possessions back then to find my happiness and somewhere along the way that changed. I suppose at first I thought I was accomplishing the American Dream and now I know that the Dream came with a huge price tag . Even after I have came to this realization, it was harder to turn back the clock and eliminate the extravagances than I thought . Bill and I are actively looking for ways to trim our lifestyle so that we again may work to live and not be owned by our possessions. It isn't hard to let go of the things but just hard to get out of contracts- cars, phones, mortgages, credit cards. So as we progress and take control of our lives again, as I suspect many of you are doing too, we strive for our goal of living more simply and sharing our lives more with our family, friends and our ourselves. So the rat race made me think about how I got to this place but I also reflected on what is important to me and who I am. My life has been shaped more by my children and family than anyone. Loosing my daughter in 2000 has changed me in a way that I cannot explain and for her I will take the Camino - which means walk by the way- to the church of Santiago. I am hoping that the calm and quiet of the walk will give me the time to finally put some of my grief behind me. I am walking for both of my sons - Jason and James- whom I hold so much hope for. They are both so much smarter than I ever was at their age and hopefully will be able to see my mistakes for what they are and choose never to repeat them. I am walking for Anne Siegels daughter- for the woman in her that longs to have her own children. I am walking for Betty McDermott who I admire because she has raised 4 children with more grace and love than most and now fights cancer. I walk for my husband Bill whom I don't deserve and know I am lucky to have. I walk for my Mom and Dad who have always sacrificed everything to raise me. I walk for the love of my brother whom I am so proud of and my sister whose love I cannot live without. I walk for Alexandra because my heart aches without her. I walk for all my past sins - to reflect on them, to ask forgiveness for them and then to forgive myself because God already has. I walk to start my life anew. So now you know why.
With love to all of you - Debbie