The big leap of faith

I look back on the last year and I have been in a terrible funk. It all started with the end of a 12 year battle with Ovarian cancer for my wife Susan. She is the bravest person I have ever known and she fought from the first day till the very end. She even had some choice words for me as I took her to the hospital (from which she would never get back home). I realize now that her path was completely by her choice and she lived and died by doing it her way. I am taking my Susan lessons in life and making them my own. So where does that leave me.....

I decided to leave my job and take a journey. This will be a very personal journey with the first part being about working through my own deep thoughts and issues and the second part about taking a big leap of trying something completely new and out of my personal comfort zone.

The journey itself will be first to take care of my personal items at home. Selling the house, left the job and taking care of arrangements for Trey's summer and finally getting my arrangements done for my planned month in Europe. Oh yeah, I still have to pack the house, clean out the office, move, pay off my bills (does that ever happen?) get insurance and have my estate settled in case of any issues in the coming months.

The trip itself will be an interesting pilgrimage along the Camino de Santiago pilgrimage path from Pau France (though most leave from St. Jean de Pied deport France) to Santiago de Compastella Spain. I will take an extra day and go to Finisterre Spain which was once known as the end of world as referred to by Christopher Columbus before he left on his fateful journey.

Following this ride (I will be on a bike), I will take some time and hit some other sites and follow a path actually given to me by Susan many years ago when she gave me a list of places she always wanted to see which include Paris, the French Riviera, the wine country of France to name a few. She will be with me on the journey and I take her with me knowing that she would encourage me to get out of my comfort zone and make a new go at the world ahead!

I leave this first blog with one of my favorite photos of Susan. This was in St Lucia South Africa. She loved the ocean and the sand. One of her few things in life that she loved more than anything was just being at the beach and she wanted to see the Indian Ocean. It took us 20 minutes to walk the 150yards to the ocean but there she is taking in the water, the sand and having one of my favorite moments with our son Trey (11 at the time). This is my favorite picture of Susan because it shows exactly who she was and what she loved!