Marit, who walked the last week

Where & when

• Camino de Santiago, albergue in Sarria · Sarria · Spain 2017 Sarria to Santiago, late September

About them then

Marit · about 55 then

A Norwegian walker about my age, with short silver hair, a faded red jacket and a battered pack. She walked faster than anyone, then waited at every village fountain with a smile that said she had not been waiting at all.

Who I was then

The Irishman with the bad knee and the bright yellow poncho who sang badly at the fountains.

Why I'm writing

To reconnect · Hoping to meet again

We met in the albergue at Sarria, both of us a little too old for bunk beds. For six days we walked together, mostly in silence. She taught me to wrap my knee with a scarf and to stop for a snack at every village. On the last evening in Santiago we agreed to meet at the cathedral steps the next morning, and I overslept like a fool. By the time I got there, you were gone.

Passed on by 0 · reached step 0 · 0 keeping an eye out