Periodically Jed would call me when he finished a work shift. I was always gladdened by such a phone call, and loved hearing the descriptions of the places he hiked and saw. I wasn't the least bit interested in Facebook till I realized I could see pictures of that beautiful country, filled with ice cold waters and birch trees. I loved seeing the posts entered by both he and friends as they reviewed their days in both words and photos.
My mind traveled back to the day I took Jed, when he was about 3 or 4 to a place in Cook's Forest in Pennsylvania on a visit back home...a stand of virgin hemlock trees. He had heard me talking about it before. "Mama, is this the deep, dark forest?" ......."Yes Jeddy."......"When I grow up, I want to live here forever!"
And now here I was on the phone with him, and he was calling from the wilds......
"Hey Mom, I was thinking, I'm not going to be able to come home for the holidays this year, I want to save up for that run. Just save any money if you were going to get me a present. I don't really need anything, and I would like you to save it for a plane ticket to fly out to Oregon, so you can high five me at the end of the trail."
And so it was that I knew that Jed would, in fact, be making this run across America. Coast to coast, Virginia to Oregon, and it was then I knew that in a way, my heart would be traveling with him.
The months seemed long through a harsh winter, but I knew that once spring broke, he would be flying to Virginia to start a journey on foot that was several hundred miles in excess of four thousand. Actually 4,268 miles I am told. The distance seems unfathomable to me. I thought that same thing when he decided to thru hike the Appalachian Trail several years ago. Over two thousand miles I thought! Can anyone hike that far? Of course I know people do it. It's just that when you are a mother, part of you always sees this man/child as your little one, no matter how old or tall they are. Part of you has a hard time with this. This run will make me gray for sure. And how do you explain it even to yourself? The conflict of letting go versus the exhiliration of it? All my life I have wanted to know my children would be fine and strong on their own,....to not need me, and yet when I see they are stronger, braver, better than I could have ever hoped....a sliver of me wants to cradle them once more.

But that feeling passes, and once again I marvel at this man who is my son. I am honored to know him.