10 May 2008 – Amtrak & Irmo

Thu- Linn met me at 0430hrs in Columbia. The drive to Irmo did not take more than 20mins at that time in the morning. Ellie & JohnW took a few minutes before they warmed up but Katy jumped into my arms the moment she came down stairs. Have forgotten how time & energy consuming to raise children! Will certainly not be able to be a full-time mother today for 3 children under 7 years.

Fri- if I had the energy of any of those kids, I will be able to walk the AT North bound and South bound in less than 6 months. Exhausted just observing them. As mentioned in my 1st SIN AT Thru-Hiker book, out of the 3 most challenges in my life, raising children and the AT thru’ hike were 2 of them so far…

Sat- Katy’s ballet lesson first thing in the morning and pre Mothers’ Day shopping with Linn on this hot sunny day. Public transport here is as good as none and the traffic was bumper to bumper on the I-26. Having lived here for about 5 years, she knew the back roads. Still no fan of shopping but good to be with Linn for the afternoon. Thank you Jeff for looking after the 3 children so that I could have some time with my daughter!

Grandchildren are God’s reward for not killing your children – unknown