Life holds so many things for us to see and learn about, the only reason we ever sleep is because our bodies stage a sit-down strike and topple us over like Roman ruins late at night demanding equal time and rest.
First of all, the goals for me for the pilgrimage to Santiago de Campostella, were headed up by getting to spend 11 days with my sister.
I was a young girl when Elda married and left home to start her family. I longed to spend a chunk of quality time to get a sense of Elda beyond our usual scurrying about during holidays and family events. What was she like day to day? I was curious.
Elda and her husband, Doug, come to visit their Texas clan every Spring, and we make a great week of it, with barbecue's at my brother and sister in law, Al and Mary's lake house, dinners at our house, treks into San Antonio for shopping and exploring new sights. The visit is usually during Spring Break, and we talk late into the night with my brother and sister in law from the Valley, Ari and Jo Ann, who drive up for the reunion. There are babies, kids and Mary's elderly mom from Laredo, Olga, and the whole circle of life spins noisily around us all the four or five days of her visit.
I love each visit, but when my sister and her husband leave back for their home north of L.A., I feel my heart burst and I start crying, knowing that for all the love that surrounds me, only the arms of my sister and brothers carry the memory of me as an infant, the me I used to be when our family was intact, Dad was alive, and Mom and he were heads of a whole, complete family.
The tragedy of his death at 42 was hard on us all, but my sister carried the greatest burden in some ways, hard on a girl aged 13. She organized our family's return from Arizona to Texas, and was a support to my broken-hearted mother. Mom's life was shattered, and my sister knew we would be safer nearer to Mom's mother and sister in Mexico, and Mom's girlhood friends in Laredo who helped to get our family back on its feet.
I wanted, more than anything, to spend time together with my sister, and the trip to Spain was both an adventure in and of itself, as walking on the Camino de Santiago for 110 plus kilometers in just over a week would be for anyone . The chance to spend hours walking and talking with Elda was the 'deal-maker' in the decision to save the money, train for the walk and read up on the Camino in preparation for the trip.
So who is Elda? She too is curious. About flowers, birds (she made the taxi driver stop twice to photograph storks), cooking, wines, art, language, culture, and all that is beautiful. She is endlessly energetic, friendly to everyone, and caring about other's well-being. Did I mention, really attractive? Yes, we are a lot alike:)
What did I learn? My sister is a learning machine. She has a hunter's vision for the natural world and all of humanity. She engaged a French set of pilgrims for miles, and had them singing with her and sharing grand children's photos. In one aldea (village) we passed beside a farm where an elderly woman bent over her washboard using a homemade soap bar to scrub sheets. She faced an east facing rock wall of her old home and was surrounded by dairy cows that towered over her. Elda approached the woman and asked permission to photograph her. I wouldn't have dared interrupt the busy woman. In the time it took for us to walk the length of the yard, Elda had her smiling and prettifying herself for what would turn out to be the best photo of the journey.
What else did I learn? My sister's enthusiasm does not wane and that she is fiery 24/7 in her passion for life.
If the struggles of her growing-up years marked my sister, they only served to make her resolute to live at full throttle, a todo pecho, facing the wind and ready for take-off. That helps explain the abiding love of her airline captain (retired) husband.
That's a lot to learn about, and I'm grateful for the experience this past month, and for the Camino of our braided lives since my birth, being her sister.
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