The ends

[William Garza]

My nieces husband died this morning in his sleep.
47 years old and had the widowmaker heart attack
Alive one day
Gone at 4:30 CST.

I imagined i would go first after exposure to carcinogenic,mutogenic and radiation through my career as a lorry driver for over 20 years
Plant explosions,exposure to chlorine gas during rescue of fellow co worker a a plant..close calls sundry and varied.

His arc is done. No more travels with this mortal coil.

The point is
Dont wait. Dont hesitate,procrastinate,deviate....go..and do

You may never have the chance to do this again
You may end your arc today
Tommorow..next week...
Put this on your front burner,you may never have a chance like now. If your serious,go ahead.

He will forever be 47..you...will be forever ?

A Kiwi Family said in the other post. In general
Who will wonder who you were
What you were
Where you hae been

My clue will be dust from A 500 mile road
What will your legacy be?

There is sorrow for the loss,he lived fully and then he moved on.
We will move on..
Santiago awaits patiently and will see us in this life and ask gently as to why we dont come see him sooner.
Or later and embrace us in welcome,whomever we are and irregardless of who we were and smile
"Ive been expecting you"!

Dont wait on the sidelines Peregrino
Dont watch life pass you by
Grab your loins and put them in your sticking place
Get your walking shoes,your cane and your little bag and fly while the wind is strong in your wings
Take the rising tide and go out into the blue while the courage is hot and giddy in your breast
Grasp this life in hands not yet made weak by time and place and shake it till fruits come raining down

Dont wait,hesitate or procrastinate
You have this much time given to do what your going to do,
That hours glass we keep flipping in the extravagance of youth will one day be set

Go Pilgrim
GO!

 

[RumAndChupacabras]

Oh dear one. May the Lord our God embrace you and all your family and friends at this time.

 

[William Garza]

I appreciate it.it just was a reminder of how little time we have to do what we need to do.inasked my sister that i wondered why he burned the candle so hard,mayhap he knew

 

[Kiwi-family]

Thanks for the reminder - sorry it came out of personal sadness for you.

 

[TaijiPilgrim]

Saddened by your loss. Peace.

 

[Aussiemum3]

So sorry for your loss and condolences to your niece and family.

I too agree with your sentiment and that's why I am doing the Camino next year. I had wanted to do it, but my husband doesn't "get it" and isn't Catholic, so i shelved my plans. It became complicated regarding money and competing priorities with a need for him (with myself and the kids) to return to Europe to see his family.

But I realised that I've only got one chance at this life, so I revisited the subject a year later and said that it was more than just a want, I'm driven to do this (religious and non religious reasons). So we have agreed to work together to achieve both our goals next year.

My daughter and I will leave first, and start the Camino in Leon. My husband and and son will leave a couple of weeks after us, spending a week with his family and then they will meet us at Sarria for the last 100km. A week or so in Spain afterwards, another couple of weeks in his home country, and we're all achieved what we wanted.

 

[Elle Bieling]

@William Garza a big virtual hug to you!

 

[AndreaCT]

William, thank you for your post. It is a poignant reminder of how fragile life. I am so sorry for your family's loss.

 

[Priscilla NC]

Life is indeed fragile. Just this morning I was talking with a woman in her seventies who lost her mother similarly when she was 14. It's always impacted her life, though she has come to peace with it.

I have also known many people with severe disabilities which have made their lives difficult -- certainly not 'normal' in our cultural understandings of normal. They are living their lives to the fullest, which I believe is the true measure of any life.

May we grieve our losses well and know the fragility of our own mortality, continuing to live as if each day were a miracle.

My prayers are with you and your family, William. I have no doubt that you will continue to live your life with passion, which is most likely what your niece's husband would want for you. Blessings!

 

[Dani7]

My nieces husband died this morning in his sleep.
47 years old and had the widowmaker heart attack
Alive one day
Gone at 4:30 CST.

I imagined i would go first after exposure to carcinogenic,mutogenic and radiation through my career as a lorry driver for over 20 years
Plant explosions,exposure to chlorine gas during rescue of fellow co worker a a plant..close calls sundry and varied.

His arc is done. No more travels with this mortal coil.

The point is
Dont wait. Dont hesitate,procrastinate,deviate....go..and do

You may never have the chance to do this again
You may end your arc today
Tommorow..next week...
Put this on your front burner,you may never have a chance like now. If your serious,go ahead.

He will forever be 47..you...will be forever ?

A Kiwi Family said in the other post. In general
Who will wonder who you were
What you were
Where you hae been

My clue will be dust from A 500 mile road
What will your legacy be?

There is sorrow for the loss,he lived fully and then he moved on.
We will move on..
Santiago awaits patiently and will see us in this life and ask gently as to why we dont come see him sooner.
Or later and embrace us in welcome,whomever we are and irregardless of who we were and smile
"Ive been expecting you"!

Dont wait on the sidelines Peregrino
Dont watch life pass you by
Grab your loins and put them in your sticking place
Get your walking shoes,your cane and your little bag and fly while the wind is strong in your wings
Take the rising tide and go out into the blue while the courage is hot and giddy in your breast
Grasp this life in hands not yet made weak by time and place and shake it till fruits come raining down

Dont wait,hesitate or procrastinate
You have this much time given to do what your going to do,
That hours glass we keep flipping in the extravagance of youth will one day be set

Go Pilgrim
GO!

I’m sad for your niece and family. Your message is clear and poignant. I came to the same conclusion about a month ago. Time is linear for most but in fact it is only the the moments that count. It does run out and oftentimes sooner than we could ever imagine. Thank you for posting such a heartfelt message. I am sure it will inspire other “to do”.

 

[Stivandrer]

I know what you mean...- there really is little time to waste...
Wednesday it´s exactly 10 years ago that I had my cancer operation,
And I have never been pulling myself together like I did after that...been walking daily since ...
When I do the last leg on VdlP this September, I will definitely think of your relative when I reach Santiago...

 

[William Garza]

I appreciate the condolences. I visited my niece about an hour ago. Time will heal all the rough road she must travel,yet they are to be traveled to reach the place where the broken places are mended and the stages are done.
The illusion that we think that things are permanent adds to the spice of life. Deep down in the unknowing soul is the truth..and it remembers it all..that which we forget in childhoods innocence

I will carry a second stone to the Cruz..to which the journey which goes past it more relevant.

Like the Way, i have seen as you my Way-farers...have seen people along the way who travel with us for such a short while then turn away toward a different path..sometimes we miss thier parting and we have memories of them,chemical reactions and electrical impulses and we hear their voice,remember a sensation of what they would have smelled like,
Echoes of laughter and echoes of voices

We walk on as is proper and right to do for we are the living and food,drink and companionship are things the living do as we stave off the inevitable dark.

Walking is a catharsis once you have gone away from the troubles of the coils
Walk far and hard enough and the problems take back seat to the sovreign precedence of breathing,drinking water and a place to lay the head emptied of the worry that makes you weary
Walk enough and your ego shrivels before the enormity of what life really is
Walk some more and the burdens drop as the heart grows quiet

And in the end you find peace if your lucky enough to empty yourself,listen to the quiet and wait to hear what it is saying
Then you may understand Santiago and why his arms are open in welcome.

Dont waste time Peregrino
If you are not now,harbor the hope so that someday soon you will be

The ends...justify the Journey
Find the time Pilgrim

 

[Saint Mike II]

Hola @William Garza . I am not really sure what to say. Heart issues either have no symptoms or lots! We ignore or accept at our peril.
To you and your niece and extended family much sympathy. Hopefully the supreme one will be looking down on you (and them) and will care for you all in the coming days and weeks.

 

[William Garza]

Hola @William Garza . I am not really sure what to say. Heart issues either have no symptoms or lots! We ignore or accept at our peril.
To you and your niece and extended family much sympathy. Hopefully the supreme one will be looking down on you (and them) and will care for you all in the coming days and weeks.

I have a heart condition too,i wasnt kidding when i mentioned i expected to go first. Wolf-Parkinson-White syndrome. I had a proceedure that burnt the nerve that was the cause of my irregular heart beat..it was.. UGHHHHH i tell ya when it occured.

Its for the living to go on and live the best life as they can. I m surrounded here and online by the best people. Fellow travelors who understand the road,The Way and the secret inner working of the heart.

We thank you for the comfort you guys have given. If this is a result of having gone down the Paths to Santiago then the world need exponentially more pilgrims to make it at least once.

I cant wait to go down the road and take my place along the banks of the river of stars alongside ya"ll
One day we will all be stars i think and who will look up in wonder?
What great ships will ply the ocean sky
Come from far off star faring ports of call
People of this seed earth whom have scattered across the nite bound sky as far as the imagination can take them..and then again beyond as they look eastward from their new Jerusalem.
And a few lonely souls will look west skyward toward home because they heard a call,felt a tug on heartstrings
Fado ,an unconstrained yearning toward home

And they will rush home like homesick angels...outward bound and throttles firewalled in haste
The sick
The tired
The weary
The hopeless
Those looking for hope who have heard of a place where the stars landed.

My kin is already home and enjoying his eternal rest out among the stars.
What made him..him
His spirit, his soul has left the bounds of his mortal shell and gained what comes of mortal man when this passage is done.
Is gone.

We will return the vessel now emptied, to the embrace of the dust whence he came.
We will sprinkle a little dirt over his mound where he lays in state after words and tears cement the grave shut.
Then we will sort out the 5 stages of the way of the heart and then we will wonder...about our own mortality.
And sometime i wil ponder as i walk east to west among kindred and fellow travelors

 

[WalkingJane]

My nieces husband died this morning in his sleep.
47 years old and had the widowmaker heart attack
Alive one day
Gone at 4:30 CST.

I imagined i would go first after exposure to carcinogenic,mutogenic and radiation through my career as a lorry driver for over 20 years
Plant explosions,exposure to chlorine gas during rescue of fellow co worker a a plant..close calls sundry and varied.

His arc is done. No more travels with this mortal coil.

The point is
Dont wait. Dont hesitate,procrastinate,deviate....go..and do

You may never have the chance to do this again
You may end your arc today
Tommorow..next week...
Put this on your front burner,you may never have a chance like now. If your serious,go ahead.

He will forever be 47..you...will be forever ?

A Kiwi Family said in the other post. In general
Who will wonder who you were
What you were
Where you hae been

My clue will be dust from A 500 mile road
What will your legacy be?

There is sorrow for the loss,he lived fully and then he moved on.
We will move on..
Santiago awaits patiently and will see us in this life and ask gently as to why we dont come see him sooner.
Or later and embrace us in welcome,whomever we are and irregardless of who we were and smile
"Ive been expecting you"!

Dont wait on the sidelines Peregrino
Dont watch life pass you by
Grab your loins and put them in your sticking place
Get your walking shoes,your cane and your little bag and fly while the wind is strong in your wings
Take the rising tide and go out into the blue while the courage is hot and giddy in your breast
Grasp this life in hands not yet made weak by time and place and shake it till fruits come raining down

Dont wait,hesitate or procrastinate
You have this much time given to do what your going to do,
That hours glass we keep flipping in the extravagance of youth will one day be set

Go Pilgrim
GO!

Oh, yes!!!!

 

[WalkingJane]

I appreciate the condolences. I visited my niece about an hour ago. Time will heal all the rough road she must travel,yet they are to be traveled to reach the place where the broken places are mended and the stages are done.
The illusion that we think that things are permanent adds to the spice of life. Deep down in the unknowing soul is the truth..and it remembers it all..that which we forget in childhoods innocence

I will carry a second stone to the Cruz..to which the journey which goes past it more relevant.

Like the Way, i have seen as you my Way-farers...have seen people along the way who travel with us for such a short while then turn away toward a different path..sometimes we miss thier parting and we have memories of them,chemical reactions and electrical impulses and we hear their voice,remember a sensation of what they would have smelled like,
Echoes of laughter and echoes of voices

We walk on as is proper and right to do for we are the living and food,drink and companionship are things the living do as we stave off the inevitable dark.

Walking is a catharsis once you have gone away from the troubles of the coils
Walk far and hard enough and the problems take back seat to the sovreign precedence of breathing,drinking water and a place to lay the head emptied of the worry that makes you weary
Walk enough and your ego shrivels before the enormity of what life really is
Walk some more and the burdens drop as the heart grows quiet

And in the end you find peace if your lucky enough to empty yourself,listen to the quiet and wait to hear what it is saying
Then you may understand Santiago and why his arms are open in welcome.

Dont waste time Peregrino
If you are not now,harbor the hope so that someday soon you will be

The ends...justify the Journey
Find the time Pilgrim

Thank you, and may you be blessed and know how much you have inspired me and others. I lost my 7-years-younger sister to cancer 2 years ago, while I am living with an artificial heart valve that kept my heart faithfully beating as I followed the Portuguese Caminho last year. I learned a number of years ago that "why?" is a question that seldom has a useful answer, but sometimes it is difficult to understand life's twists and turns. My sister did take hold of life with both hands and LIVE it! I try to follow her example, and am grateful for your message to us all!

 

[nycwalking]

William Garza,

You’ve blessed this community with both poem and prose.

May you, your niece, and family find solace and like blessings during this trying time.

Buen camino always.

 

[Ed Aster]

As I sit here at home in small town New Zealand getting over the jet lag from my 3rd year on the Camino your contribution to this forum has hit me right between the eyes. I concur with all that you say William. With so little time on this earth and with so many opportunities to have so many adventures one can if possible experience the wonders of Camino plus the world and all of its joys. I have done so my entire life. I am sorry for your loss but it is a gift to those who discover the value and excitement from traveling this roads well known and to experience Gods wonders and to expand ones life to the fullest. Jet lag, no just the reminder of what I have achieved and enjoyed for 3 years in a row.

 

[Former member 49149]

His arc is done. No more travels with this mortal coil.
I hope that your niece can find the strength she needs to have. sorrow cannot be assuaged by fine words, only by grace.

 

[lizlane]

You have brought tears to my eyes! I cannot begin to tell you how saddened I am to hear of your loss. It reminds me of my own and quickens the sense of urgency to get on the path! I am also gladdened to hear you and yours are taking steps to see to it that you don't leave your dreams by the wayside. My father passed in Oct 2016 and my mother followed him in March of 2018. They were married for 51 years. For awhile, my brother was lost to me to but we've reconciled since but I have learned one thing. Grief will not be minimized and there is no easier softer way through it. All I can tell you is that just when you are done with your grief, your grief is not done with you. Your positive attitude will carry you far but sometimes you'll have that moment when a catch-phrase hits you, you smell a smell familiar, you find a lost photograph then ... takes you back to that point when all that you held sacred is gone (No more travels with this mortal coil). Then it hits again. Just go with it. You'll waste your energy fighting the waves back. Who can stand on the shore when the sets pound in moment by moment? No one. Move to higher ground and witness your tides roll in.

You have done all here a great service by reminding them of life's precious and fickle nature. May you weep all your tears and be consoled by laughter and love! And if you struggle with your loss, buy a copy of The Prophet by Khalil Gibran. His words have been a balm for me.

"But if in your fear you would seek only love's peace and love's pleasure, Then it is better for you that you cover your nakedness and pass out of love's threshing-floor, Into the seasonless world where you shall laugh, but not all of your laughter, and weep, but not all of your tears"

It is precisely to the depth that we love that we must pay with equal measure the grief that will companion us.

I wish you and yours a Buen Camino!

 

[William Garza]

We thank you all. Inwent and saw him laying in state. Touched his now cold hands and his face in repose.
Everything that made him..him was vacated and left behind was the shell.

What makes us isnt the outer covering,at least in my views.
What makes us...us is the animate soul
That inteligence that resides inside. That is what i see. Born to die..we all start that process on severance from the umbilicus
To be tied together by another..each other.

Friendships
Common interests
Common goals
Shared experiences, good and bad
Community
Tribalism
One hand reaching out into the darkness in search of....
And finding the another hand grasping firmly
And the world grows less dark

The darkness must be balanced by light because it is right and good to do so.
We pass by the darkness looking in
We pass by in darkness looking out

His way is done..but as part of a greater Way we will continue.

Live your life with a sense of urgency.

Life is poetry and images and the great dance...we earn the learning one stumble,one misstep...one fall at a time and learn the steps
Some are more intricate than others
And so some are less ...But all dance
And ultimately we are all alone together and that makes it all right.
Tommorrow on the AM we will bury him and we will remember his dance

Pilgrim
Live with a purposefull urgency. Get up each day and make an effort to live fully,completely

Each step like the beating of your heart
Each breath gladly and taken as a gift
What purpose is striking out on the Way loaded down with baggage that leaves no room for life?

Empty in heart
Silence the mind
Open your soul
And walk forward like you mean it

Be blessed Pilgrim