Asheville resident Jerry Nelson’s ride to raise money and awareness about homeless issues in Asheville ended in a crash and some bruised ribs recently. Nelson headed out in March and was in Louisiana when a tire blew and he fell. A local doctor was also worried about Nelson’s heart. Nelson, as I noted in a column I wrote about him, had quadruple bypass surgery a year ago and was still smoking cigs on his trip.
Nelson is now back in Asheville. I’m certain he’s not done. Here’s his take, from his blog, journeyamerica.org:
On the bus ride back to Asheville, I had plenty of time to think. I was able to think about all the old friends that I had reconnected with as well as all the new friends I had made. I was able to think about how each day on the trip was it’s own mini-adventure. I thought about how much like life was the trip – new faces and places. As Willie says, “seeing things I might never see again”.
Life is kinda like that too. Each day we’re able to wake up and draw a breath is a mini-adventure. Sure, a lot of what we do each day could be, what one friend calls, the “mundane predictability of life”. On the other hand, it’s the mundane predictabilities that tend to make us appreciate the unexpected twists and turns of this journey.
So while my journey of the past several weeks is over, this adventure called life goes on and the journey continues.
Stay tuned – the best is yet to come.