This weekend, we drove down to Virginia as a family to see my baby brother on his birthday. He has been thru-hiking the Appalachian Trail for over a month now, clearing over 600 miles. He has faced frigid weather, slept under the stars, swam in several waterfalls, apparently speaks owl, and stinks to high heaven. It was so good to see him trot off the trail with his classic oversized smile and to sit and hear the many moments that have shaped his time on the trail.

As I sat and listened, it was a bit surprising what his stories centered around. As someone who has never committed to such a prolonged journey in the wilderness, I assumed wrongly that the stories that would surface first to his brain were the landscapes. I assumed we would hear stories of rolling hills and sweeping valleys. Stories of the plant life and the scents and smells of early spring. I thought he would speak more of the waterfalls or the rivers and streams.

Certainly, Henry did tell stories of these things, but they were so often connected to the people he has met on the trail. People with odd names like “Scat Pack” and “Happy Feet”, “Rainbow” and “Rodfather”.

Henry said he missed home, but it wasn’t the endless flat farmlands of rural Union County that he was missing. He missed his nephews and his new niece. He missed his siblings and hearing what is happening in our lives. He missed his friends. To curb his longing for home, the medicine was not the next mountain peak, but people to hike with. Having a solid group of friends to hike around and especially set up evening camp with made all the difference between loneliness and having a swell time.

It is a potent reminder to me about what matters in life: the people you do life with.

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