There I sat - head down, fully engrossed in catching up on Facebook, aware only of the fact that the Internet connection was somewhat finicky and not wanting to miss a minute of posting our activities for the past two days. Dimly I was aware of hearing Lorraine say, "That sounds like Helen's voice." I looked up, hardly paying attention, because for several days something would remind us of Helen. Someone looked like her. Someone walked like her. Someone was stopped in a place that she was likely to stop. So with disinterest, I looked up ... and immediately my spirit was filled with joy. Unbelievably, it WAS Helen!
You cannot begin to imagine, nor could I begin to elucidate the string of "coincidences" that would have had to occur to allow this to happen.
We met her first on Sept. 12, in Hornillos del Camion. For the next fours days, we walked the same distances - but never together. Over those four days, we had several short "How's the day going" conversations, and one extremely short (literally 30 seconds) but deeply meaningful conversation that drew my spirit to hers. And then she was gone and though Lorraine and I both hoped to see her again, we figured she was gone forever. Over the next four weeks we often thought of her, and wondered where she was. We played in our minds a few possibilities that might occur that would cause us to meet again, but we knew it was never going to happen.
I'm not even sure why this was important. But for some indescribable reason, I wanted to see Helen again. On two or three occasions, I would say to fellow so-journers, "There's one person I'd like to see again. Her name is Helen ...", and I'd tell them a bit about her, hoping against all odds that one of them might know who I meant, and say, "I saw her just yesterday." But it never happened.
Imagine the string of "coincidences" that would have to occur to allow us to meet.
- She was a full week ahead of us
- She's from Australia, we're Canadians
- Even if she ended up in Santiago the same time we did, it's a big city. We're staying outside the pilgrim area. We would have to be in the same place, at the same time, and ... And ... And...
And ... And ... And ... Unbelievably ... there she was. We had a group hug of gigantic proportions. We laughed. She laughed. The kind people behind the counter of Terra Nova Pilgrim House laughed (and wondered what was going on.) We took pictures, and exchanged Internet identities. And hugged some more.
I wish I could explain to those of you reading this the immensity of that tiny moment. I have a feeling that fellow Camino walkers know exactly what I'm talking about, while others might be thinking "pastor's losing it over there in Spain."
As I wrote this, Lorraine and I are getting ready to meet Helen for an evening meal for which we set tentative plans. It may or may not happen. (It didn't) And it really doesn't matter any more. For the Camino enriched our lives when Helen's Camino intersected ours for a few minutes from Sept. 12 - 16, and the Camino filled our hearts with joy with another five unbelievable minutes on October 11.
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