Tales from the Trail #02: On the Kindness of a Child …
I was not doing well at all on this particular day – the temperatures were simply too hot and the Sun was simply too glaring and the traffic was simply too aggressive and my satchel was simply too heavy. And so it was that I indeed started to break down – both physically & emotionally – while walking down the roaring roadside; weaving a bit from pain & fatigue as I did so, all while openly announcing to the heavens my still-devout intention to keep going “for at least four more days” if need be.
Make no mistake, I was in a pretty sad state – even at this early juncture of my Walk, and I knew pretty clearly (seeing as how this was far from my “first rodeo” when it came to peace pilgrimages) that my current Walk – at least as it was being tread at that time – was simply not sustainable; that there was in truth little point in continuing onward in this fashion of exhaustion & hyper-suffering if the same was going to be the norm.
And yet just at that moment – the very moment I was raising my exasperated voice to the skies and professing my undying intention to keep walking anyway – I heard a car horn honk just off to my right. I looked over to see a smiling man waving me over to his car, and as I limped over to him I heard him say “It sure looks like you need a ride.” And so it was that without hesitation I smiled in return and admitted that a ride was exactly what any doctor would at that moment order …
He then asked me where I was headed and I said, “Any place north of here where I can sit and rest awhile.” And so it was that I entered Ted’s* car … And so it was that he drove me a few miles up the road to a gas station in the next town (all while eagerly listening to me tell him about my Walk’s basic hows & whys) … And so it was that he bought me a Gatorade and told me that I was coming home with him that night to meet his family … And so it was that he then drove me all the way back to the small city where he lived (which happened to be the very same city where I had started my Walk that very morning) … And so it was that I did indeed meet his lovely family and share some wonderful conversation with them that evening (about the Walk and Life and Family & Love) … And so it was that Ted’s young son Larry* walked up to me and asked me if I was tired (I was quite obviously exhausted – so exhausted that I was finding it difficult to even eat any the food they were offering me at the time) … And so it was that Larry, after hearing that I was indeed quite tired, offered me (without any prompting at all from his parents) his own bed in his own room (NOT pictured below) in which to sleep that night. 😮
And so it was that, after enjoying one of the very best showers of my entire life, I headed into Larry’s room at 6pm and fell immediately into a long and obviously much-needed eleven+ hour sleep.
*I didn’t ask permission to use actual names in this or any future telling of this tale, and so the names of both my “rescuer” and his son have been changed to “Ted” & “Larry” herein, at least until said permission can one day be obtained … 😉
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