On Pilgrimage

Friends,

     Our time in DC was a wonderful reunion--much better than anything, speaking for myself, I had dared hope for.  Thursday night and the two Saturday events stand out especially in my mind.  Thanks so much to Char for her steady hand throughout, to Rufus for taking care of all the logistics in advance and then turning Saturday night into a climactic celebration at his home, and to Bob Hopkins for coming up with the idea for Thursday’s dinner and then providing the funding to make it possible.

The feeling for each other, when most of us hadn’t seen each other for nearly fifty years, was startling.  The gap in time may have had the same effect on you as it did me; I was able to see that so many people have been on pilgrimage.  The loud-mouthed, crude, boisterous Char of our training days is still loud-mouthed, crude, and boisterous--as well as gentle, compassionate, and wise.  Jane has a radiant vitality and love of life, Mary Mullin D’Amico an aura of kindness, Ursula an openness that has made her stronger rather than vulnerable, Bob Gross a quieter attentiveness to others and an ability to listen and hear, Jerry Mills the courage to reveal his love and pain, Mary DeWan a steadfast, ageless commitment to justice and making a difference, Steve a spiritual home in Buddhism, Wilbur a healthy gratitude for who he is and for a life that almost slipped away....

It seems wrong to stop there when I could go on and on, but I wonder if others had that same sense that this was a group of people in which many have, over the course of an often-difficult life, struggled toward the light.  I was humbled and honored to find myself among such friends.

All the best,

Tony

Toward the light