for the Journey

i did it.  i conquered this country.

i touched the water on the Charleston, SC beach, just as i had touched the water at the very beginning of this Journey in San Diego.  i experienced this country from one side to the other, Pacific Beach to Battery Park and everything in-between.  sea to shining sea.

as soon as i dipped my fingers in that Carolina water, the entire trip took on a new focus in my mind.  i forgot how exhausted i was and what hardships i had faced along the way.  the stuff that didn’t matter fell away and the true Journey could finally shine through in my memory.  and you know what i remembered?  laughter.

that’s what this trip was really about.  Steve and i laughed from one coast to the other, sometimes crying and convulsing with laughter.  maybe we were delirious- but everything was funny, everything was good.  i often worried that we were about to crash during the particularly heavy fits.  but i decided that it would be a good death and just kept on laughing across the next state line.  in the final analysis, what else about this trip matters?

i imagine this is the same experience i’ll have when i touch the waters on the other side of this life.  once i conquer the land of the living and look back, i won’t remember the times i was scared or lonely or didn’t get what i was expecting.  i won’t think about how hard it was or whether i arrived on schedule.  i’ll remember belly-aching laughter, and decide it was all worth it.

hilarity for the Journey,

-louie-

This entry was posted on Sunday, November 11th, 2007 at 5:37 pm and is filed under Life, Places, Travel. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.