~GATHER: A Hike for all Ages~

I put on my hiking boots and my new #SS15 tshirt.  I climb in the car with five of my favorites.  We are very different people.  We are quiet and reserved.  We are outspoken and opinionated.  We are tall, short, lean, curvy, blonde, brunette, and red-headed.

Our struggles are real and our accomplishments are great.  Our conversations range from divorce to mammograms to raising children and caring for our parents.

We represent a kaleidoscope of lives that could be featured in any modern women’s magazine. We are real live women doing our best to survive and build our lives.

This is our 15^th year.  It didn’t take us long after graduating from college to realize we NEEDED each other.  It was a small group at first, but each year it grew as we recognized the value in this time together.

So we gather. 

We gather to laugh.

We gather to rest.

We gather to reflect.

We gather to grow.

But most importantly, we gather to love. 

As I step out of the car, I know we are quite the sight.

Big sunglasses.

Matching tshirts.

Loud mouths.

We start our hike walking down a trail, talking a mile a minute.  We’re like a group of teenage girls that haven’t seen each other in ages.  We stop talking long enough to capture the most amazing view from our first overlook.  Instantly, we turn in to photographers and their subjects. 

“Look at that single red tree in the middle of all that green.”

“Don’t fall over the edge.”

“Did anyone bring water?”

“I need a picture with someone!”

We find a sweet couple to take a group shot and then pause again to admire the little red tree in the canyon.  We encounter our first story on that overlook.  Her name is Mary.  She’s a photographer and outdoor enthusiast.  She is impressed with our matching shirts.  After hearing our story, she tells us she graduated from college 40 years ago.  We leave Mary and wish her a wonderful day.  Our minds start imagining what our girls’ weekend will look like 25 years from now.  Hopefully, it looks an awful lot like Mary.

We start across the rim trail and pause briefly at the next overlook.  A sweet couple compliments our shirts.   We tell them our story and quickly find out they are celebrating their 25^th wedding anniversary.  We offer to take a picture to remember the moment.   I somehow imagine they don’t take pictures together often.  I also imagine a day they look back at that picture and remember their hike and their first 25 years together.

We continue down the trail.  Its quickly evident that every step we take down, we will have to take a step back up at some point.  We pass many “resters” along the way.   One resting couple inquires about our shirts.  We tell them our story and they declare they are “empty nesters”.  I imagine their thoughts as they heard our conversation coming down the trail.  I’m certain there is no judgment, just an awareness of our different places in life.

The trail widens as the sound of running water gets louder.  Its as if there is a magnetic force that stops our voices and opens our eyes.  Immediately, we each find our place. 

Some of us pray.

Some of us reflect.

Some of us write.

Each of us is in a totally different place while sitting at the same place.  It reminds me of one of my favorite quotes about relationships.

"The most beautiful discovery true friends make is that they can grow separately without growing apart." ~Elisabeth Foley

Many people will hike the Rim Trail in 2014.  Each of them will have their own story, capturing their perfect images, while reflecting on their place in the world.

Its certain, on this beautiful October day, we know our place in the world.  At least at that exact moment.

And so we gather. 

Once a year. 

Always the same. 

Yet just a little different. 

We are broken.

And still, we are complete.

And so we gather.

Thank god we do.

~ao

Due to an abundance of doing "nothingness" (aka laziness), I have no other pictures from SS15.  Probably a good thing to spare you from pictures of almost middle-aged women in yoga pants.