When we started our journey on March 1 the end goal was to walk the Camino Coastal Portuguese.  We walked all over New York, Edinburgh, Paris, Lisbon and Porto.  The day came and we were ready. This, after a stolen passport, and a lost and then found wallet.  We were dressed for the road:  shorts that I had worn on my two previous Caminos, amazed me that they still fit; Hoka sneakers, instead of the heavy hiking boots I wore in the past. I carried a small backpack with very little in it-only my rain gear and some personal items.  I had my walking poles with me, although I started the day without them.  We walked out of Porto along the river until we got to the Atlantic Ocean.  We followed the ocean for the rest of the day.  It was relatively flat, and we couldn’t have dialed up better weather–sunny in the low 70’s with a great sea breeze.  We walked all day meeting people along the way. We stopped for a wonderful lunch of grilled fish cooked outside on an open fire.  As we approached the end of our day, tired and thinking ahead to the meal we would have along with some Portuguese wine, my husband, Steve’s phone rang.  He chose not to answer and we continued on.  It rang again about a half hour later and again he decided to wait until we reached our hotel.  We arrived at the small and lovely B&B, after an 18-mile day, and the owner came out with a very quizzical look on her face.  “Who are you?” she asked.  “We have a reservation here for tonight,” I replied.  She informed us that there was no reservation for us, although she did have our luggage, which was moved from Porto. There was no room.  How could this be, I thought?  She must be mistaken, and I very assertively told her the name of the company that had booked our reservation and our names again, as if a room would magically become available.  There was to be no room and she very kindly called around and found us a room and drove us there with our luggage.  

We settled into our lovely room with a very kind innkeeper and now it was time to deal with those pesky phone calls.  It was Steve’s brother telling us that his 94-year old mother had died.  One day on the Camino. Oh no!!  We certainly weren’t in a large city with access to an airport.  What to do?  Steve knew he had to abandon his Camino and get back to Florida for her funeral.  I, on the other hand, had a different choice to make.  My mother-in-law and I never got along.  That might be putting it mildly.  I was never what she had in mind for her son and had secretly, maybe not so secretly, wished that we would have gotten a divorce in spite of the fact that we will be married 41 years.  I suppose I could write about all the things that transpired over the years, but it’s enough to say there was no love lost between us.  However, I do love my husband, and leaving him to face a family who never approved of his choice of a life partner seemed unfair.  

It was Sunday night and we managed to get a flight out of Madrid on Wednesday. We made arrangements to stay with friends near the funeral site.  I decided not to go to the funeral and having friends who love me was a Godsend. I spent the day of the funeral with my friend, Judy, having a normal day filled with lots of talking about things other than my mother-in-law.  The funeral was Thursday, and Friday morning we hopped into our rental car and headed for the west coast of Florida to spend a few days with my lifelong friends.  It was soothing and reinforcing to know that how one person feels about me has nothing to do with how my dear friends feel.  I bathed myself in their love and we laughed and cried and my soul healed. Thanks, Deb and Cliff.

After several plane rides, Ubers, rental cars, buses and ferries, we made our way back to Peaks Island and the love of so many friends.  We stayed with our dear friend, Jill, for a few days until our tenants moved out of our house. We are home now and I’m back in my Pilates class, going to Portland to food shop and doing all the things we do in our routine life.  

Steve and I vowed to do the Portuguese Coastal Camino again.  We are home on Peaks for the summer and then we will head to Latvia, where Steve has taken a 10-month position with the State Department.  As I ponder what I’ll do for those 10 months, a friend who had planned to do the Camino from Leon to Santiago, Spain, in April had to postpone her trip until late September.  

HUMMM, Is this the sharp right I was waiting for?  Before I knew it, I was signing up to join her on the Camino. Thanks Maureen. Once again I see that if my heart and mind are open, there is always opportunity right around the corner.