I met them both well into the journey -- nearly two-thirds the way to Santiago. But the resilience, humor and love I witnessed in M and F from the moment I met them makes me re-think what it is to truly love, and how lucky I am to have Joe in my life, no matter the difficulties we face. Each of these men lost a young wife a year ago. One woman died of cancer, a passing that cost M not only a life companion, but her son, whom he'd helped raise for 10 years, as well.
F and his wife had been married only 7 months when the unthinkable happened. They were on a drive when she was taken by a bullet in a drive-by shooting.
How can such loss be forgiven?
Perhaps one of the greatest miracles I have witnessed is that of two husbands deep in grief, finding connection, solace, redemption and the power to move forward as they put one step in front of the other all the way to Santiago.
Rising
How mercifully short
Her passing
And mercilessly long
His grief
Which does not cease
With walking
But is loosened
Of its chokehold
Just enough
To breathe him back
To the living
To give her back
To the mystery of creation
And in this return
Raise his heart
From its own
Untimely death
And release her heart
Into communion with the divine
~ Cheryl Murfin, on the Camino de Santiago
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