Books and my backpack

Are we too judgmental of ourselves and others?

For Michael, a defining moment in his life comes on the Fourth of July when he is just seven years old. The event changes him forever and he will not see his parents for almost two decades.

Skip forward to when Michael is 19, and he walks into a lecture hall for his third college class, filmmaking. He glances at the middle-aged man—his professor—sitting at the table at the front of the room. Michael tries not to stare, but he soon realizes his eyes reveal a path to a new future.

At first glance, Michael is the perfect physical specimen of a young man, but he has learned to conceal what he thinks is his gross imperfection. The man at the table, with whom Michael immediately shares a bond unlike any other, guides Michael toward a new life, one absent of apologies.

What’s wrong with Michael? Or is the correct answer “Nothing!”

In Michael Without Apology, Catherine Ryan Hyde weaves a powerful story that connects us all to Michael. And maybe to the realization that will guide us to stop apologizing—to ourselves and to the world.

This book invites readers to ask themselves, “In the end, shouldn’t we be proud to be ourselves?”

The final numbers: twenty-one days on the Via Francigena, 268 miles through Tuscany and Lazio, 29,000 feet of climbing.

Yesterday, our final day brought us a unique view of St. Peter’s Basilica. When we arrived at the square an hour or so later, it still buzzed from the previous day’s announcement of the new American pope.

Scores of TV interviews and commentary were being filmed while thousands of people milled about. Like when we arrived in 2018 after walking the Way of St. Francis, two Oregon “pilgrims” with backpacks felt out of place.

Early this morning we returned with our pilgrim passports, which held 32 stamps from places we visited along the path that had been traveled for more than a thousand years. At a desk next to the basilica, we received our testimonia, identical to the ones we earned after walking the Way of St. Francis.

Back at our Testevere apartment this afternoon, we feel the usual letdown, missing the routine and adventure of one of the world’s great trails. Our feet rejoiced.

Tonight we meet fellow trekkers from The Netherlands for dinner. They have completed pilgrimages to all three Christian destinations: Rome, Santiago de Compostela, and Jerusalem. A bit of reminiscing is likely to accompany our toasts.