Ordinary Magic: Promises I Kept My Mother Through Life, Illness, and a Very Long Walk by Cameron Powell is an inspiring memoir about the sometimes rocky love between a mother and her son. On the day Cameron’s marriage ends, he learns from his German-born mother, Inge, that her cancer has returned. Incredibly, Inge wants her son to join her on the 500-mile walk of Camino de Santiago, a pilgrimage known in English as the Way of Saint James, located in northwestern Spain.
The two, mother and son, are joined by Cameron’s young cousin, Carrie, fifteen, and friends who act as guides in the first part of the walk, Julio and later, Ann Marie. They begin their journey in Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port in France, near the border with Spain.
The memoir, written mostly through Cameron’s journal and also includes thoughts from Inge’s journal, shows grit and determination along the often grueling journey. Inge suffers from not only from the effects of cancer, but also from infected feet. Cameron, too, has leg problems. At times one or the other rides a distance, but mostly they stick to walking up steep hills, as difficult to climb as to descend, and across barren or rocky land. They also trek through breath-taking lush landscapes. Accommodations are often uncomfortable with several people, and their assortment of snores, sleeping in a single room. Food is sometimes questionable, but they usually find nourishment along the way.
The 35-day trek ends at Camino de Santiago with visits to the magnificent Santiago de Compostela Cathedral in Galacia, Spain.
Cameron and his mother’s journey continues after they return home and Inge goes into her final agonizing journey with cancer. Cameron serves as her loving caregiver.
Ordinary Magic is often humorous with wry comments about life in general, and this walk in particular. It also contains many words of wisdom about living life to the fullest, embracing new experiences, and accepting sadness as a natural part of life.
Mary: You certainly have a talent for seeking books that are a valuable reading experience. Here is another I must order. Thank you.
I have a writing friend who recently walked Camino de Santiago, so this book was of particular to me.