June 6
Walking distance: 18 kilometres
The last day was all about arriving within myself. For me it felt like I was done. What came now did not matter so much anymore, since I had finally found peace within myself.
When I got out of the chapel, I saw Jens sitting outside a bar, smoking away of course. By now he had earned himself the nickname “chimney”. He told me that he had sat behind me for a while in that chapel. I had been sobbing for an hour in there, realizing how far I have come. Again, Jens did not ask any questions and I just loved that. He was not nosy and knew that if I wanted to share, I would do that – in my own time.
After a good lunch with my camino friends, we hit the road. After three kilometres however, Andy really started to struggle with his knee again. He had damaged it going down the mountain after Foncebadon and once again I was so glad I had skipped that part. The locals also warned us that there would be a storm on the way. Without thinking twice, we called a cab to take us 20 kilometres down the mountain to Triacastela. I had found my peace, so I really did not mind taking a taxi again. I wanted to stick with my friends.
June 7
Diary entry: “Again I was walking all day with Jens. I feel so comfortable with him. I can talk to him but I can also just walk next to him for a few hours. I don’t mind, as long as he is around me. In fact we are inseparable! It’s quite bizarre considering that I wanted to be on my own all that time. I guess I have finally found my walking match. We clearly have a special connection.”
That day, my knee pain returned. Only 100 kilometres away from Santiago and I was struggling again. But walking next to Jens was a big motivation. There is something that I haven’t shared with my readers here yet. Jens has been walking parts of the camino every summer for four years now. For him, being on the camino is a celebration – a celebration of life! Jens was still quite young when he got diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis, MS that is, and has been stuck in bed and through an odyssey of treatments. Luckily, he is fine again and even fit enough to walk the camino. While other pilgrims are trying to find God, themselves, want to show off that they can walk that far or just lose some weight, Jens is walking because he can. He doesn’t take walking for granted because there were times in his life where he wasn’t able to walk. Now that he can, he is doing the camino…every year. Every step becomes a celebration that he can walk. What an inspiration. Suddenly my knee pain did not matter so much after all. Jens was so grateful for still being alive, for still being upright. Jens has taught me many things. He has taught me that there will always be someone, who understands you – even if you have given up hope a long time ago. He has taught me acceptance and patience (though I don’t think he did that deliberately, haha). But most of all he has taught me to be grateful in life. Thank you, Jens.
The Yellow Arrow 