Day 7 – Burdens – Date 4.21.2025

The definition of burden – that which is carried; that which is borne with difficulty.  Why are we talking about this you might ask?  On Day 25 I will come upon a cross erected on a pile of stones.  A monk added the cross in the 12th century.  I think the pile of burdens has been there even longer than the cross.  People have been bringing items, memorabilia, personal effects to the Camino trail and laying them at this site.  While visiting my friend Beth in Florida just before I came to Spain, I got some ideas for what I would bring on the Camino to represent my burdens.  Because my rock represents multiple burdens, this story will take place over a few days.  And I hope by then, my pictures for Day 6 and beyond will appear on my computer so I can post them.  Until that happens, you will have to just see my words.

I just posted a picture of a painted rock.  It looks like there are stitches on the side of rock.  If you look closely, you will see the middle line in the stitches is curved.  My crude drawing is to represent the spine of my sister Kathleen.  She has scoliosis and had dealt with it her entire life.  In the 7th grade she had an operation after wearing (The Milwaukee) brace for a long time.  Her spine continued to curve as she grew.  So they took a bone out of her leg, put two metal bars in her back, one on either side of her spine.  The leg bone was used to help stimulate growth in the area of her spine they operated on.  My sister is in her late 60s and her spine has now twisted and turned below where the metal bars end.  I am sure if we saw an x-ray of her spine we would be horrified.  Mind you this woman, my sister does not appear to have the body ailments she endures.  Although she could not walk this Camino trail with me, she is cheering me on every day with encouraging words and reminding me of all my wins.  If you met her, she would not tell you about her back issues nor the rigor of daily exercises she does to strengthen her body around all the wacky spine/nerves and whatever else she has as a result of her spine.  Although a nurse practitioner herself, she is not following Western medicine who tell her to “have an operation”.  She is trying several Eastern medicine techniques that are non-invasive.  She is a delight to be around and never talks about her pain.

I just asked her to confirm that her left side is mostly where she has her pain.  As I walked today I realized that my foot with the two blisters is my left foot.  The knee that bothers me when I descend a hill is my left knee.  I don’t think this is a coincident.  I am carrying this rock in my backpack until Day 25 when I will lay it upon the pile.  I will say a prayer for my sister that her days are more without pain than with.  I know she will continue to do her exercises and eat healthy.  She will continue to laugh.  I will notice if/when my left side heals.  Interestingly, when she saw my drawing on the rock, she said it looked like stitches and that is also represents the surgery she had as a child and not just the spine I tried to represent.  Two heads are always better than one.  Together we collectively come up with more ideas, stimulate more creativity and increase the chance we will laugh than if we stand alone.  

May we all gather lovingly with family/friends and help each other to laugh . . . even as we carry our burdens.  They are lighter when shared. 

Buen Camino!