Laura, our youngest daughter , gave me a colorful bracelet when I first started talking about hiking the PCT. It says, "Miles For MeeMee". MeeMee was one of our nicknames for Emily. She'd abbreviate it down to Meems.
I wore the bracelet the whole hike, and still do. I hiked those miles for MeeMee, for my family, for myself. But now that I am off the PCT I still hike daily, although nowhere near the distance. It is still therapy, still searching for some solace.
Where do I take this? I don't want to get into some repetitive mode. I want to make sense of life, still live it with passion and hope. I want to explore how others deal with loss. What is the role of creativity? Where does hiking, or gardening, or good deeds fit in?
How can I, a loner at heart, tap into my community, expand it, nurture it?
Sometimes writing can be so introspective that it becomes painful. Hiking soothes that. Maybe there are other occupations as well which will help.
We'll see where this goes. But if any book ever comes out of it, I just might call it "Miles for Mee
Mee." She never had the chance to do all that she wanted, all that called to her. I feel bad about that. So we, her family, try to pick up those pieces and carry them as far as we can.
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