When a total stranger makes your camino special

[Agnogel]

http://www.caminodesantiago.me/community/threads/this-camino-thing-is-infectious.24591/
On the link is a tread i posted last month about my neice and her friend walking fron Sarria, My neice just wanted to getaway for a while after she split with her long term boyfriend and her friend wanted something different, As posted i got my neice a pilgrims passport at an open day in Dublin, Her friend refused the offer as her camino was not for spiritual or religious reasons just a different holiday. They arrived in Santiagio last thursday and my neice collected her compastella her friend was sorry after she did not get one, A couple of older Irish men they met on the journey were outside the pilgrims office taking photos of them selves with there compastellas when one mentioned to the girls that he would take there photo also for them, My neice explaned that her friend had not got a pilgrims passport so no compastella, no problem says he i have a spare one in my bag that i got stamped along the way from Sarria just incase i needed it, he had left it blank so she filled out her name and she collected her compastella and the photo was taken for all to see.

My neice is on the right and of course her chuffed friend on the left. They had such a ball that there going back in September to walk from Santiagio to Finnastaire and are talking about next year also,
And a special thanks to the two gentelmen in the photo also
The road to Santiagio is by no means a lonely one
I have to ask the question what made your camino so special.

 

[Diogo92]

Thats the Camino spirit

 

[Vera]

This made me smile Lovely photo.

 

[AshaDasi]

How very wonderful! Thank you for sharing such a lovely story.

 

[happyhiker18]

That brought tears to my eyes

• 

He is truly a Camino Angel <3

 

[hecate105]

I think what made my camino special was that it had taken over 20 years to be able - physically, to do it. And that my husband - who was really not bothered about it - became a committed pilgrim! So we hope to organise our lives so that we can go a'pilgrimage again...

 

[Silverton]

That was an innovative Irish solution to an Irish problem, and I'm delighted the girls were happy. But it raises a little question with me: why is the compostela so important to people who have walked the Camino(s)? I have been very glad to hear about the new certificate available to people who have not walked for spiritual reasons--would that not have satisfied your niece's friend? (and, excuse me, perhaps more honest for her and for the donor of his duplicate (why??) credencial).
Both documents acknowledge one's camino-experience, and few of us really expect our compostela to be a bargaining chip when we knock on the door of heaven--do we??? (Hmm, I added my fourth one (from Tui) the day before the girls completed their camino.)
I just wonder--how highly do we value the compostela certificate, compared to our memories of the daily walk, the people we met and the journal we kept of our experiences? Opinions please?

 

[pbucilla]

Don't you need a stamped credential for any of the documents signifying completion of the pilgrimage, including the new distance certificate? I think the Compostella is symbolic of the pilgrimage, not more important but an official recognition. What a lovely keepsake. I think the young woman walked the Camino, but recognized that she had made a mistake not carrying a credential and then regretted that decision. How lucky for her that someone was compassionate and understood her situation.

 

[Silverton]

Apologies, I didn't read properly at all, not realising the girl hadn't got a pilgrim passport to show at the Oficina--I thought it was about her rationale for walking. And they didn't stay in albergues, so. Sorry for putting my big boots in wrongly!

 

[hecate105]

I think having the certificate is just a physical reminder of the experience. I was so pleased to get mine after waiting so many years to be able to do the pilgrimage, when it was stolen on the way back I was gutted. But I thought ' oh well, it's only a bit of paper' and tried to forget about it. But when someone said I could get it re-issued by the Pilgrim's Office - I was delighted! They (my husband's and I's) hang in our hallway and many times a week I stop briefly to gaze at them and remember the journey, the people, the whole experience. They are not 'necessary' but they make me smile every time!

 

[Agnogel]

Apologies, I didn't read properly at all, not realising the girl hadn't got a pilgrim passport to show at the Oficina--I thought it was about her rationale for walking. And they didn't stay in albergues, so. Sorry for putting my big boots in wrongly!

No problem as i said the girls were just taking a different holiday but as the camino often does it turned into something different they got caught up with the motion of it all it swept them off there feet so to speak, And while it started out as just a walk it ended up spiritutal in a small way for them.
Buen Camino

 

[David]

The wanting a Compostela thing is simple, surely. The child learns to swim, does a length and receives their 25 metre certificate and are so proud. Later they learn to cycle safely and take the test and receive their cycling proficiency certificate. Scouts get their badges and display them proudly. University graduates receive their certificates and throw their mortar boards into the air in joy, we honour the brave with medals and citations.
Our lives are filled with gold stars and badges and certificates - it is how we are - we love the symbolic, we love rites and rituals and records of achievement - it is part of who and what we are. I like that aspect of us.
Don't you?