Date: 2018-12-06
To: Home
Miles today: 0.0

Today is the day that we load up to go home for Christmas and for the winter. Papa Big Swig doesn¢t want me out by myself in the winter anymore. I honestly feel fine and safe, but he deserves peace of mind too. As it stands, I¢ve done what I need to do to get my certificate from the ATC. I¢ve hiked over 2000 miles, I checked in at Amicalola Falls before I started at Springer. I registered at Harpers Ferry, and in Baxter. In addition, the weather made me leapfrog, so I¢ve actually hiked in all 14 states. Wow that¢s a lot!  Many of my hiker friends have said that I¢m a thruhiker. I do feel very good about what I¢ve accomplished, but I¢ve got a 170 miles or so that I haven¢t seen yet. I won¢t be satisfied until that happens. So I¢m coming back. Mark your calendars for the first week of March. I¢ll be back and I¢ll be journaling. I¢ll probably journal a little in between as well. For those of you who have been trying to email, my email is fixed!  Even knowing that I¢m coming back, this day is still an emotional one for me. Life as I have known it for so long is changing. I¢ll be going back to work and re-joining the rat race.  I¢ll miss my daily dose of tranquility. I remember in the beginning I was looking for ¢homeostasis¢. I¢ve definitely gained a strong sense of self and well being.  I¢ve learned that I¢m stronger than I ever imagined I was or could be. My idea of what¢s important in life has changed. I¢m realizing that I¢m more like my father than I thought. That¢s a good thing. I¢m going to give some examples of the kind of man my father was: He worked from sunup to sundown 6 days a week. He never complained, he was grateful to be able to do it. He ALWAYS took Sunday off. He was life smart! Innately he understood the value of life and humankind. He was one with the earth...and if anybody could ¢talk¢ to animals it was him. He understood the nature of all animals and he respected them.  He respected people and treated everybody like family. He knew no strangers. He was also nobodies fool. He had healthy boundaries in all the right ways. He appreciated every day of his life. Lived it to the fullest! He was athletic and competitive, but a good sport win or lose. Though he mostly won. He was a natural leader and a teacher in life. He always had a smile and he liked a good belly laugh. He was brave. Fear never stopped him from doing anything he wanted to do. He was definitely a ¢when there¢s a will there¢s a way¢ kind of person.  He never took more than an aspirin until the last 6 weeks of his life. Not a single prescription medication ever. He would say ¢there¢s nothing wrong with you until you go to the doctor¢. Being a nurse, I would laugh...but there¢s some truth in that!  He started feeling unwell about a month before his 70th birthday. I knew it was serious when he asked to see the doctor. The first time he ever decided to see a doctor in my whole 42 years of life at that time.  Shortly after his birthday they did an exploratory surgery and found cancer had attached to every organ in his body. It was extensive. The surgeon came out and said he had about two weeks to live. Mom and I never told him that. When dad woke up his doctor came in with the news. He listened and absorbed it. I could tell he was sad, not mad or upset, just sad. When the doctor left he looked at mom and he said ¢I¢ll do all I can to fight this, but if it don¢t work out, it¢s been a good life¢.  That¢s my dad. Just grateful to have been given life. He lived about 5 more weeks. He never complained. He left nothing unsaid. When his time came he just closed his eyes and peacefully slipped away. When times were hard for me he would say ¢where¢s your faith sis?¢ His faith took him all the way home. I¢d like to end this entry with a few quotes that remind me of dad. I always get to where I¢m going by walking away from where I¢ve been-Winnie The Pooh In this world there are dreamers, and in this world there are doers, but what this world really needs are dreamers who do -Author Unknown Whatever you are, be a good one - Abraham Lincoln Until Next Time Blue Raccoon (2018)Where¢s your faith?