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Episode 12: T-shirts and Sweat Shirts ..read more

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I don’t remember meeting Lee. I’ve just known him for so many years and had so many experiences with him that it seems like he has always been part of my life. Lee and his wife Barb were the kinds of people that made you feel like family. They each had the same rare gift. They were truly interested in other people. When they asked you how you are, it wasn’t like the kind of dialogue you speak in a beginning language lesson. “How are you? Fine, and you? No, they really wanted to know how you were doing. They listened in their own ways and not like someone that was just keeping quiet until it w ..read more

The best advice I got trekking through the Dolomites was to stop walking before you look around. It’s important to focus on each step. The trail was wide and there was plenty of room to maneuver but the exposure made it seem dangerous. It could have been easy to let the unwelcome thoughts of tripping and falling take over my mind, but the exposure reminded me of the time when my elementary school gym teacher put a balance beam two inches from the ground. Everyone in the class could do all of the tricks. When he moved it two feet off the ground, we all froze. The snow that fell unexpectedly on ..read more

It was a Wizard of Oz moment. Our guide pulled a heart-shaped rock out of his bag and presented it to me as a parting gift. Six days earlier my husband and I started a hike through the Dolomites with two strangers, our guide and our hiking companion Jill. Now we were saying our goodbyes as four people who had bonded together during the steep climbs, the knee-deep snow, the strong winds, and the time spent together every day and evening. Our shared experience created a trust that allowed us to open our hearts and express some of our deepest thoughts about life and death in the context of the m ..read more

A ..read more