(Sun. 8/19/12) Katahdin, ME

My e-mail to Brett today:

Dearest Brett,

I can’t stop thinking about you this weekend. This is it! You are at Baxter State Park and will be summitting Katahdin today (if things go as previously planned). I am so excited for you. I would say, “I can’t believe it.” But that’s not really true. I always knew that you could do this. Not that I think it is so easy that just anyone could do it. No, but I knew you could do it. I never lost my faith in you. But coming to the very end does feel like an “I can’t believe it” moment. You made it. Six months of hiking and being away from family. Two thousand one hundred eighty miles, and then some. I’m proud of you. I hope that you have no regrets or disappointments with this hike, that it is the dream that you had wanted. I love you!

Apparently, Brett tried calling me while I was at church. (I hate missing his calls!) His cell phone is out of juice, so he was borrowing someone else's. He was able to get in touch with his dad who let me know that Brett was at the top of Katahdin. Brett's dad said that Brett was very emotional as he finished his six-month, 2,180-mile hike of the Appalachian Trail. I don't doubt it. I don't think any of us have the faintest idea of what Brett's experience has been. I think you would have to be on the trail for a solid month to really have a clue. I will admit to being clueless in my understanding of Brett has gone through to make it to Katahdin. But I will reiterate what I wrote to Brett: I am so proud of him. I never doubted that he would finish.

And now I can't wait to have him back.

(Mon. 8/6/12) Maine (text)

I am truly grateful for you as well. I do think of you often and how lucky I am to have you. I love you, Hun.

Welcome words to hear. But how are you walking on a broken foot?