pilgrims' progress

"Harold could no longer pass a stranger without acknowledging the truth that everyone is the same, and also unique;  and that this was the dilemma of being human."

Rachel Joyce - The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry

Yesterday Robert and I returned from a trip to the beautiful mountains of North Carolina.  The drive takes about seven hours each way and is the perfect opportunity for an audio book.  I had selected our entertainment carefully in the weeks before, going on Amazon to not only read reviews, but to listen to samples as well.  A great audio book is only as great as its reader.  When I heard the English actor, Jim Broadbent's voice, I knew I had a winner - I was captivated!  Now anything spoken with a British accent sounds better, doesn't it?   Try it..."Oh blimey, where is my mobile (that's mo-bile with a long i, as in cell phone)?"  Or... "Have you seen my trainers (sneakers), love?"  Don't even get me started about the loo...  Gosh, I think I could listen to it all day and that comes in handy when you plan to do just that.  

And then there is the consideration that my husband doesn't read...he can read, but he doesn't like to.  He loves music - not musicals, New York - not Broadway, eggs - not quiche, broccoli - not brussel  sprouts, funny movies - not silly movies, and stories - NOT books -  just to keep it all straight.

So...was it likely that Robert would listen and love a tender and thoughtful tale about a retired man who one morning walked down his driveway to mail a letter...and just kept walking...in his shirt and tie and yachting shoes - forgetting his mobile phone?

What would he make of all the characters Harold Fry would encounter along the way - of some six hundred miles?  Would the whimsical-sounding destination of Berwick-upon-Tweed compel and intrigue him as it did me?   Would  the story bore him to distraction and put him to sleep, or draw him in close and make him think?

I did not know.

The road stretched before us and then something wonderful happened.  Time began to melt, along with our hearts as we joined Harold on his journey.  We came to know him and his wife Maureen, their son David, their neighbor Rex, a girl in a garage, and a woman in a hospice - Queenie Hennessy.  The miles sped by and we seldom stopped, reluctant to take leave of our hero and his story for too long.  As Harold kept going, so did we.  And as we sojourned, this pilgrim helped us remember that genuine kindness is a quality that we both would like to show others, especially those who seem strange to us, especially when it may seem strange to us.  We remembered humility, empathy, courage, gratitude, forgiveness, atonement, and acceptance.  We remembered what we must never forget, those healing words that  are the hardest and most necessary for human beings to know and utter - "I was wrong."  We remembered love.

As the audio ended we knew we would miss Harold but were content with the way his bittersweet and unlikely pilgrimage concluded.  And though the book found its ending, it seemed that Harold's life held the promise of a new beginning.

It is completely likely we will find another book and another journey someday and will fondly recall this unlikely and endearing one.

"If I just keep putting one foot in front of the other, it stands to reason that I'm going to get there."
 - Harold Fry