Camino Romero

The ruminations of a rambling sixty something year old!

Welcome to my new blog! My dearly beloved read the first draft of this, and said -” but nobody knows anything about you”. Well I’m a sixty something retired physiotherapist , a wife, Mum (in all its connotations including to our gorgeous Golden Retriever Millie!), Grandma/Nana , and a friend to one or two(!!). But really I am just an ordinary girl called Jane ( well I was going to be called Helen but my surname was Harland, and my mother was sure I would end up as “elen arland” -hence Jane!!!)

Initially, the purpose of this blog was to keep you ,the reader , informed of my progress whilst making the final preparations for, and then walking the last 111km of the Camino de Santiago in north west Spain from Sarria to Santiago de Compostella . This is something I had wanted to do for a while now –having been inspired to do so by many different things.

Willow Bridge Oxspring South Yorkshire (where I live), not quite the Camino de Santiago -which by the way translated, means “The Way of St. James ” – but I’m guessing St James would have been happy to walk over it anyway should he have been passing nearby around 60 something AD! It has certainly been part of many of my walks whilst training for the Camino!

A bridge on the actual Camino ( with my friend Kathleen!) – and yes, St James did walk over this one!

So where did this all start? I love walking and am blessed to live in a beautiful part of the country. Millie, our dog, and I walk happily for miles. I find it very therapeutic and the time I spend walking, has become my planning, thinking and problem solving time – there is nothing that that can’t be planned or resolved during a good long walk!

You will see from my posts on this blog that I completed the challenge on September 27th but in case you are new to this blog the following tells you why and how this whole thing started.

In January 2014, I myself was diagnosed with breast cancer – and having worked as a physiotherapist in a cancer setting for almost twenty years this came as a heavy blow. Memories of all the people I had looked after with the same diagnosis, and who had died, were always with me and it was hard sometimes to see beyond them.

However with the help of many people, see beyond them I did and after surgery and radiotherapy five years ago, here I am well and cancer free!

Cancer had touched my life thirty five years ago when my first child died during labour, although at the time it was not the main cause of distress. Her post- mortem revealed she would have developed neuroblastoma, a rare type of cancer affecting children that occurs in certain types of nerve tissue. To this day when I hear of, or see a child with neuroblastoma it strikes at my heart.

In my work with cancer patients, I  was privileged to meet many people , patients and their family members a significant number of whom I remember to this day; ranging from those dying with the disease, to those living with the sometimes horrific long term effects of not only  the cancer, but also  it’s treatments. I learned a great deal from each and everyone of them – but of everything I learnt, the most important thing to understand is that life is precious and we should never take a second of it for granted.  

I decided that now five years on, it was time to take on a challenge and use it to give something back to help others who are either in the “cancer world” as my friend calls it, or will be joining it in the future. Two further events had triggered the decision – the first was the death from breast cancer of an incredibly brave young Mum who was a friend of our eldest daughter, and the second was the death of a very dear friend from secondary prostate cancer.

As a result I decided I would do this walk for a cancer research charity and dedicate it to the memory of all those I know, and have known, who live with, or have died because of, cancer. My walking companion is not only a very special friend but also the soul mate of our friend who died of prostate cancer- and I couldn’t think of doing this without her!

Now to the name of this blog, dear reader -some of you may be wondering what it means! Well Camino is Spanish for road or way and Romero is Spanish for Rosemary (the herb). You may be aware that this is not only a symbol of friendship and loyalty but is predominantly associated with remembrance. Wherever and whenever I am out walking I’m thinking, and in the words of the song by Sandie Shaw there’s ” Always something there to remind me”

When I first wrote this introduction, I had no idea where it would take me – I guess a bit like the Camino itself I suppose. I knew I wanted to do it, but I didn’t know why! Now having completed it, I know – it was far more than just a long walk. It was a spiritual journey of self- discovery and emotional fulfilment, and I loved it, So never having blogged in my life before, I discovered the joy of relating my escapades and associated thoughts and memories to those of you interested to read about them. Not only have I fallen in love with the Camino but also with blogging. Who would have thought it possible – but it is never too late to start something new ! So I’ve decided that whilst ever you are out there dear reader – I’ll keep going!

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