And here we GO! I was waiting for this thread to get going, and I knew it would.
I have such an incomplete memory about my first time walking
Camino Frances, as I was--at the time--in a bit of shock! I had planned and thought and wished and hoped and found myself out there, and by golly, the first few days were pretty rough.
I got myself up over the Pyrenees from SJPP, and a few of my first angels were two sisters from England. We were in that little shelter seeking refuge from the storm (it was storming on the Pyrenees--something moved in and we were caught in it), and the girls were so funny and kind. We had spent the previous night in a room together at Beilari, and their senses of humor had matched mine, and they were just hilarious young women. Anyway, in the little shelter, they handed me their thermos of hot chocolate, as I recall, and we all had a little meal and checked in on each other.
In Pamplona, I stumbled in incredibly exhausted and ill. One of the brothers-see a sibling pattern here?--called me Angel Grandmother, and took very gentle care of me. When I told him I was too ill the next day to travel and asked if I might stay another night, the answer was a very kind yes--and I realized he had put me in the back corner of the albergue near a slightly opened window. He gave me instructions to keep it open, and also told me he was giving others the same instructions! (the previous night, I was in a room with several French women walking Le Puy who had been very ill). While there, my friend and forum member brought me chocolate.
A very special person helped me in, I think, Navarette. I was not breathing well at all, and a previous night, I had been "touched" (yuk, yes, it shocked me--don't do it to others, people!) by a guy who had woken up the entire dorm room with his bag rustling and flashlight at 10 PM (yes, we were all sleeping at that point). I was ill, snoring and coughing, and couldn't breathe well. Anyway--in Navarette I asked the very adorable hospitalera-- a very earthy woman in beret, lots of purple, baggy hippie-style pants--if I could have a room by myself. I would have been glad to pay. She shushed me, smiled, and led me to a dorm at the top of the stairs. A circular window appeared facing east, and as I lay in my top bunk (I could have had the bottom!) I gazed out at the beautiful city. It was bliss. I slept like a baby. That night, however, I went out to dinner with another pair of sisters and a new friend from Portugal, and when I saw my hospitalera angel sitting at a table outside, she called me over to give her a hug. I surprised her with a gift of beautiful beaded earrings, which I had brought with me (I take stuff to give my special helpers on journeys such as this).
These are a few people, aside from my friend online here, who I consider to be unique and thoughtful!