Memories

I took Bailey for a walk this evening and was surprised to be visited by an old friend. Well, in memory anyways.  I don’t know if it was the sunshine, or the quiet solitude, but my mind started to wander and suddenly there was Jean-Yves.

Jean-Yves was on the RMC Nijmegen team with me. On the second day of the march, I was in all sorts of pain. I didn’t say anything to anyone, but as you can see in this picture, it was pretty evident.

pain

That grumpy looking guy beside me, that’s Jean-Yves. As you can see he was in a bit of his own pain.  We were obviously hurting so our smart team captain had put us both up front. We didn’t talk at all during the march that day. When we got back to camp he asked me how I was doing. I mumbled fine and tried my best not to cry. He reached over and hugged me because that’s who Jean-Yves was. It didn’t matter that he was in just as much if not more pain, he wanted to make me feel better. The last two days of the march went well enough for our team (severe ankle sprains aside). We all finished and it was a great experience.

Now Jean-Yves had a bad heart and as part of his physiotherapy he was suppose to walk. After Nijmegen he was looking for a new walking partner. I had two large dogs who needed daily walks and Jean -Yves lived around the corner from me so we started to walk together. Every weekday morning, rain or shine, Jean-Yves would be knocking at my front door at 06h00 and we’d walk 6 – 10 km. He wasn’t so keen on the dogs at first (did I mention they were large) but he warmed up to them. And as I got more and more pregnant he even took their leashes and helped scoop; this from someone who was not a dog person. We talked about anything and everything and I really enjoyed our morning chats. I miss my friend, but I cherish my memories.