Recuerdos in the Heart
Recuerdos in the Heart
by Michael P. Barham | Berwyn Heights, MD
Folded in fourths, the college-ruled, loose-leaf page was among papers I was sorting in preparation of relocating. Why move a box of papers (again) when I haven’t opened it since the last move?
Slightly yellowed and still folded in quarters, it was immediately recognizable. On the “B-side,” a list of towns with albergues and their distances hastily scribbled at my first albergue, copied from a borrowed guidebook. On the front, a more important list: people’s names.
The list began in decent penmanship and was well-appointed within the red margins, legible letters inscribed before setting out. With decreasing legibility and at all angles contrary to the blue lines, written in haste or exhaustion, more names: additions that marked the Way with relationships, like the flechas amarillas we follow to Santiago de Compostela.
Specifically, these were names to include in my prayers.
The list began with folks who requested my prayers before I embarked. Added en route were those I met: hospitaleros, villagers, pilgrims. Reading those names in 2024, I conjured images and memories as easily as when I made the list 23 years earlier. Some on the list have transited the veil and others with whom I’ve lost track, but all are inscribed in my heart.
The power of that daily practice was evident to me later and has grown more poignant with reflection.
Taking time each day to remember and slowly say a name and to offer a positive thought in their regard, I maintained a connection across time and distance.
Whether or not my prayers had an impact on others, the daily practice of remembering and holding folks’ names in my heart and mind gave me a richer sense of connection, strengthened the memory of my experiences, and made me more grateful for the Camino and its many gifts—not only those with whom I walked or have particular bonds, but folks I carry in spirit with me and to whom I “return.” In essence, I felt a sense of expanded love for those whose names I held each day and carried in my backpack. And they are often still consciously part of my Camino remembrances, even though the list was lost to a plastic storage bin for over two decades.
Whatever ways you hold intentions for others, I hope you consider those practices on your pack-list. And if you do, you may take home some recuerdos, memories, in your heart.
