Next month I will remember the journey, a year before. In truth, I have been wondering just how this 1st anniversary should be commemorated. I mean, it is after all a big milestone that should be remembered. A time of reflection and taking stock: a year on - has the Camino left me? Have I left the Camino?
I have taken up the project of editing my father's 2nd book. And surprisingly, he has entrusted this big task to me. I say "surprisingly" because I did not participate in any way 8 years ago, when he wrote his 1st book. In fact, I have always felt stung by the fact that I was not even mentioned in that first book.
Mum has been commenting at this turn of events. And because I am editing this book, and the testimonials and words are at the fore-front of my mind, I would say to her: It is meant to be. Simply because one of the reasons why I did the Camino (and this blog!) was to perhaps inspire my father to move forward and write the 2nd book.
We had always known there would be a 'sequel' to the first. After all, at the end of the 1st, the issue of the house's non-performing loan was yet to be resolved. When I started my Camino, it was already sorted two months in! Yet, Dad made no move to rest his butt down at his desk and type away.
My progress has been slow. My patience seems to be tested at almost each word, each punctuation, each paragraph. I am conscious of the importance of this task - and so I have songs of praise plugged into my ears, just like I did when I was walking the hills and plains of Spain. I am hoping that by doing that, I would reach the end of this 'new journey' just as I did on the Camino. That despite the struggles and the constant desire to "pack it all in", I would persevere and persist as I did.
But more importantly, I do not think this is another lesson in patience. Rather, it is a lesson to be less harsh and less judgmental. It is a lesson to really "Honour thy Father & Mother." It is Dad's life that unfolds in these pages. It is his story, his journey. IT IS HIS CALLING. And so, as much as I feel like selecting entire sections and deleting them, I cannot, I SHOULD NOT.
And so through this experience of playing editor-in-chief, I am reminded that the Camino have not left me and I have not left the Camino. For that, I am grateful!
