“We are all just walking each other home.”
~ Ram Dass
There are many things that can define a relationship. Walking is one of the many that defines ours.
It all started on a hike in the Indian Heaven Wilderness, on May 28, 1994. It was a cold day, snow lingering late into the spring. Stopping for lunch, he pulled food out of his pack, including a small bottle of champagne. Not your usual trail drink. Pulling me in for a hug, he said, “I have a question for you.” I was pretty sure he wasn’t going to ask me if I wanted the turkey or the ham sandwich. There was only one answer to his question: “Yes!”
We walked into the woods as one thing, and walked out another, and we’ve being walking together ever since.
Right from the get-go we started taking early morning walks, and for the last 32 years we’ve walked in silence, talked non-stop, solved problems, discovered new ones, laughed, cried, screamed, and dreamed. But we’ve never stopped walking together.
We’ve resolved conflicts, reached an impasse, answered questions, posed new ones, arrived at decisions, gotten lost, found our way, and made friends with the truth of life at the time, be it good, bad, or ugly. But we’ve never stoped walking together.
We’ve walked side-by-side, in single file, in step sometimes, out of step at others, exhilarated and forging ahead, or exhausted and lagging behind. But we’ve never stop walking together.
We took our walk together this morning. 32 years and counting. Who knows how many we have left, but one thing I do know: We will never stop walking together, all the way home.
