St. James Way

A Last, Late-Night Entry

In bed in the Albergue before heading to Lisbon. I'm a storyteller after all. And I want to end the travel journal with a brief highlight. It wasn't here in Muxia, but a few days ago on the square in front of the cathedral in Santiago when I saw you again, Mario. I really wished for this encounter the moment I wrote it down here somewhere. One last wish. We met for the first time in France. I say Moissac. You said Lectoure. I also want to write down a few details about you as far as I can recall it: you worked for a French energy company, quit your job and then did voluntary service in Jerusalem for some years. You got the money for the Camino by selling your car. We met, let's say, after 20 days of hiking. And then we met again in the 60s, on that said square in Santiago. The only thing is, mon ami: you didn't even walk the Camino Frances like me. Instead you walked the route along the coast in Spain and then sharp to the left, towards Arzua, where the route reunites with the Camino Frances. From Arzua to Santiago, that's probably just two days of hiking. A very short period of time in which it was even physically possible for us to meet again. If you had followed the coastal route till the end, so the paths would reunite not before Santiago, our reunion would probably have been some kind of "proof of God's existence" for me. Instead - with a time span of 2 days - our meeting was still almost impossible, but only almost and it remains - as always as far as God is concerned - a residual doubt. But I still remember how excited I was on the square back then. You, this time without glasses. But I still recognized you. And there was this woman by your side, maybe your sister or a new girl. I told you in my broken French that I wanted to see you again and that we are standing here now. At first you didn't understand until the woman explained it to you. I could tell that you understood in the end. You most likely don't know why but I really wanted to tell you. What I didn't tell you: God sometimes makes wishes come true. It actually worked quite often for me here. You probably also don't know why I shook your hand, grinning like crazy. But I also remember that you let go of mine only after a very long time. Adieu, mon ami.