Andrew VillalobosCurrent situation: Sitting on the bed in this 5th floor apartment in Zarautz, Spain. The view out the window is of rolling green hills filled with forests and vineyards, a mixture of heavy clouds and the red tiled roofs of the city center. We can hear the waves of the bay, the sound of cars passing by on the highway, the every present chirp of birds and neighbors chatting in Spanish. I’ve been thinking about our time in Wales over these first few days of the Camino del Norte and we finally had a slow enough day to give us time to sit and relax. I won’t give away our Camino experience as we’ll be documenting that as well but lets just say for now that it’s been early mornings, late evenings and lots of walking; no time to sit and write!
Our friends Paul and Marie have been friends of the family since I was a boy. They joined my parents’ church early on and were sent to pioneer a church in Ireland when I was still young so I never really had the chance to get to know them. We reconnected in recent years and have since spent a few days with them in England and again a few days in California. It’s always only a few days because vacation time is scarce so we were excited to have about a week to spend with them before we began our walk. Our original plan was to stay with them for a few days in Wales and then they would join us for the first few days of the Camino from St Jean de Luz to San Sebastian. Well, our flight got canceled, I think because of Covid or something-or-other so we decided to spend the time with them in Wales instead. We landed in London without any plans or expectations, we would have been happy to hang out at the house and just take it easy but Marie had other plans. Marie is a high energy individual matched only by her dogs, Oscar the Spaniel and Ruby the Frenchie. Paul is great because although he’s more relaxed in nature he’s always up for the ride and provides a great balance to every situation. We visited the Stone houses of the Cotswolds, went canoeing on the Wye River, hiked in Brecon, toured an incredible museum that was once an iron mine and visited with another set of old friends down in Cornwall.
It was a busy week, with still a few things to button up back home but we were so thankful to have some time where we didn’t have to make any decisions other than where we wanted to go and what we wanted to eat. Paul and Marie set us up with our own room, breakfast, lunch and dinner were always ready and always delicious and we learned to count on Paul for snacks…lots of snacks! Let’s see. Haribo candies, frazzles, quavers, popcorn, aero bars, chocolate fingers, fruit and nut bars, welsh cakes; I’m getting full just thinking about it. In all seriousness though, we were so happy to have traveled thousands of miles and feel completely at home again. It was special for us to get to know them better and wasn’t hard to see why they got along with my parents so well, all those years ago. They are generous, loving people and I’m proud to say the same of my own parents, I guess the old saying is true that birds of feather flock together. We were so happy to see that they had been blessed over the years and now live in a beautiful village in the Welsh countryside. Their children, Andrew and Nicole, are both doing very well, have great careers, their own homes and are just getting started. It was a really special time with them and it went by far too fast. I’ve felt that way several times lately, fleeting moments or even entire days. How do we hold onto them? How do we appreciate them fully while still being present? I’ve caught myself tearing up at different times, random times and not knowing why but in these few days of walking I’ve come to realize that it’s gratefulness. Grateful for that moment, for friendship, for being shown so much love and that love being extended to my wife as well. I don’t yet know why those feelings become tears but I’ve stopped feeling self conscious about it and have just been going with the flow. One hope by the end of this Camino is to understand myself better, I guess we’ll see. Speaking of emotion I have to mention our time down in Cornwall.
We were able to visit Mike and Joanne down in Cornwall. They were also key members of the London church back in the 1990’s. They ended up moving to Scotland to begin a church there but unlike Paul and Marie, who I only had a few childhood memories of, my brothers and I spent a lot of time with the Pike family. It was probably because their children, Hannah, Ben, Dan and later, Katherine and Jordan, were our same age and Joanne also helped a lot with the children’s ministry. We were always at the church as kids and I have so many memories playing with Ben and Dan and spending time with Joanne in so many different places.
I didn’t know Mike as well because he was usually with my Dad helping run the church services and events but he was no stranger to us, I think we even lived together at one point when I was very young. After leaving the UK we lost touch and I couldn’t believe it had been 25 years since I had last seen them. I’ve seen photos of them on facebook and messaged with Dan a few times on Instagram so they didn’t feel like complete strangers. Even on the drive over I didn’t have any specific feelings towards seeing them again other than excitement but the minute Mike and Joanne stepped out the door of their 1800’s cottage I felt something strong. I hugged them both and introduced them to Sophie, it was all smiles but inside I felt like crying. We stepped inside and Daniel was there with his wife and their young daughter, Ben was on his way down and his son was running all over the place. They walked us through their home and immediately it felt comforting and safe. They took us out to the garden where’d we spend the afternoon having lunch under the shade of the trees. I was enjoying catching up with them but continued to feel such strong emotion. I kept telling myself to keep it together, trying to figure out what I was feeling and not wanting to cry in front of anyone but after a while I could no longer contain it. I was speaking with Mike and Joanne and the tears began rolling. I think they felt the same way and just continued talking with me, while I recollected myself. They both are such friendly and caring people that it’s easy to let your guard down around them. I hadn’t seen them in so many years but I didn’t feel at all awkward in that moment. During the first few days of our walk Sophie and I spoke about that afternoon. I’m thankful that she has a high emotional intelligence and asks good questions that help me work through things. That moment felt like a storm inside, a strong mixture of happiness, sadness, gratefulness, guilt, nostalgia and a kind of homecoming. I felt happy to see them and see them doing so well but I felt sad and even guilty that in all the times I had gone back to England I hadn’t made the time to go and visit with them. I felt so grateful to be there at that moment and for Sophie to have a chance to meet more friends from my past. Making the decision to pack up and uproot our lives was difficult to say the least but moments like these have been confirmation that we’ve made the right decision. It was fantastic to catch up on lost time and hear about all of their adventures. Mike has spent a lot of time in Africa and still helps in ministry. His love for people was obvious and again I could see how he and my dad had made such a good partnership. Joanne is a nurse now which seems like the perfect profession for her and we heard all about Dan and Ben’s adventures all over the world.
We have a long journey ahead of us but we really enjoyed reconnecting with them and there’s no doubt that we’ll be seeing them again soon!
