A Most Important Week

This past week has been one of milestones.

Alan on Summit

20 Years ago on August 27th I got married to my best friend, confidant, lover and best woman on the planet.

60 years ago on September 3rd I was born

10 years ago on August 30th as I approached my 50th birthday I achieved a goal to stand on the roof of Africa when I reached Uhuru Peak on the top of Mt. Kilimanjaro. I still get tears in my eyes and goose bumps thinking of seeing the sunrise over the glacier on the top of Kili when I thought I could not take another step. Someday I want to do it again.

Glacier on Top of Kili

And what else happened this week 10 years ago? On August 29th, the day before I came down from the summit all of my porters were listening to their transistor radios and when I asked them what the news was they replied “there are very bad winds in America.” It was not until 2 days later when my wife met me that I learned that those bad winds were from Hurricane Katrina.

Yes, while I was hiking up Kili Katrina hit. All this week there have stories about Katrina devastating the city and people of New Orleans. I have read and heard stories about those that have overcome adversity and those who still have a problem coping. We all deal with challenges differently but as I look back on 20 years of marriage and 10 years since summiting Kili I am reminded that life is a journey, not always smooth, not always easy, but one where we must keep moving forward and enjoy every day that we are here.