The Closing Ceremonies is the reason why I have slowed down so much in posting about the 3-Day walk.
The more I thought about it, the more difficult it seemed to vocalize this last leg of our Walk. As always, the length between the sign that said "Holding Area 1 mile" and the Holding Area seemed much longer than the advertised mile. By this point, everything was hurting and it was through sheer force of will that we were making it through this last mile under our own power. Laurie was walking about 20 yards ahead of me and the "Caboose" was riding just behind me as we marched on towards the end. The cheerful encouragement from the Moto and Bike Safety people as well as just the average people on the street helped to buoy our spirits and keep us moving.
We came down the hill and into the Holding area amidst cheers and high fives. L and I were the last walkers for the day and now was just the short walk over to the Lincoln Memorial for the finish. It was tough. There was elation at finishing the route, anguish that we still had a short way to go and excitement coming off of all the people around us. Words can not really describe the feeling of accomplishment, of completing a goal and of being a part of something special and wonderful. Those feelings were all that carried me through the next 45 minutes to an hour waiting for the ceremony to complete.
At this point, the body was done. Everything was screaming to be allowed to stop and sit down. The feet especially just wanted me to get off of them. L's sister-in-law was kind enough to hang back and walk with me to the car when she noticed that I could not keep up with the others. This really touched me and I thanked her very much. She just thanked me for walking. And that is what kept me moving to get to dinner. Which was an incredible relief.
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