On July 11th, one month before my 32nd birthday, I started my ascent of Mount Adams with my brother. Hiking has taken on a special significance for me as a single woman; I don't have a go-to for a climbing partner, and I often head out into the mountains on my own. On my hike the previous weekend, along a ridge facing the Saint Helens blast zone, I passed about thirty men. I was one of only three women on the trail, and I was the only one unaccompanied. "Are you hiking solo?" I was, as always.
At the summit of Mount Adams, the second highest peak in Washington state, there were again three women. One was with her boyfriend, who pulled out a ring and proposed. Another was the only female in a climbing party of six. "You go girl!", we high-fived, noting that we stood out among the twenty + men on top. Mountaineering is a male-dominated sport, and we held our own.
That same day, a baby was born in a hospital in Guatemala.
"Hola R____, te cuento que hoy nació mi hijo, al final fue cesárea, mi pareja y el bebé están estables."
A healthy baby boy for my ex-boyfriend and his fiance! I was touched that he emailed me the news on arguably the most important day of his life. Four years have passed since we last saw each other, and our worlds have twisted and turned in ways we couldn't have imagined. But the foundation- a love that transcended cultures, religions, and languages, that broke through a bloody history of a civil war funded by my parents' tax dollars and resulting in the murder of his father, that taught me how to salsa dance and shoot tequila and speak a second language- the foundation is still there.
When people ask me what I'm looking for, that's the best way I can describe it.
At the summit of Mount Adams, the second highest peak in Washington state, there were again three women. One was with her boyfriend, who pulled out a ring and proposed. Another was the only female in a climbing party of six. "You go girl!", we high-fived, noting that we stood out among the twenty + men on top. Mountaineering is a male-dominated sport, and we held our own.
That same day, a baby was born in a hospital in Guatemala.
"Hola R____, te cuento que hoy nació mi hijo, al final fue cesárea, mi pareja y el bebé están estables."
A healthy baby boy for my ex-boyfriend and his fiance! I was touched that he emailed me the news on arguably the most important day of his life. Four years have passed since we last saw each other, and our worlds have twisted and turned in ways we couldn't have imagined. But the foundation- a love that transcended cultures, religions, and languages, that broke through a bloody history of a civil war funded by my parents' tax dollars and resulting in the murder of his father, that taught me how to salsa dance and shoot tequila and speak a second language- the foundation is still there.
When people ask me what I'm looking for, that's the best way I can describe it.
No comments:
Post a Comment