Our Climbing Buddies

I can't remember when I've met such a great group of people! It was incredible. We spent every minute of 9 days, 24 hours a day in very close "quarters" with people we had never met before. Looking back, one of the things I value most about this trip was the time spent with the new friends we met on the climb.

Here are their names - from the left - Vivian, Pat, Karen, Janie, Robin, Steve. JT & I are standing in the back. In the front, kneeling are Joanne, Tim and Francis.

Vivian and Steve are both attorneys in St. Johns, New Foundland, Canada. Vivian works for a labor union and Steve is in private practice with a firm. Pat is a Neurologist from St. Paul, Minnesota. Karen (a fellow Penn State grad) is an engineer from Philly - not far from where I'm from. It's a small world. Janie and Robin are also both attorneys. Janie and Steve are law partners, and Robin is a Prosecutor for the Crown in St Johns. Joanne is Janie's sister, who is a Nurse Anesthetist who grew up in St Johns, but now lives in Austin, TX. Tim and Francis both work at University of London in Ontario, Canada. Tim in Finance and Francis is Asst. Dean of the Medical School.

Both JT & I liked each of these bright, positive, energetic, funny, caring people. I've described what they do for a career, but that only describes a small portion of who they are as people. If I ever had to be stuck on a desert island with a group of people, and I could chose who, this would be the group. The reason I say that is that not only are these quality, caring people, but I've never known a group as thoroughly diverse in so many ways to all get along as well. We all knew we would have more fun if we got along, but that doesn't always happen on Kili. I think that the key was that each person respected the others, despite differences in perspective, beliefs and lifestyles. I know it was a great learning experience for me. From my Christian perspective, Christ taught us not to judge, and to love others unconditionally. In this small group of people, that principle was lived out with great results. I wish all people could learn to live that that!