I made my way to the BMECP building and prepared for the evening gathering. There were 5 of us and we shared a beautiful, meaningful time together. It felt like some of those we loved and were remembering we brought with us into the space at the beginning, and others made their way throughout the time we were there, arriving in our awareness to join us. Their light shines on.
I stayed with Flick and Vida, we had great conversations and played a couple of games (I'm always up for a game!) I slept well despite my head being full of anticipation and unknowing as to what is ahead of me.
Flick conveniently lives less than a 15 minute walk from Brighton pier which is where I wanted to begin my walk. I set off a little later than planned trying to get my rucksack to close but it did with a lot of squashing and I met Kirstie and Jonathan at 8am. I asked them to take a photo of me in the same place I had taken a photo of Ro when I visited him in 2019. It felt like the right place to begin walking north in memory of him - from a place he had stood, where just over 5 years ago we had talked and laughed and decided not to swim because it was a windy and cold October day!
About 1 minute into our walk Kirstie asked if I'd had coffee yet, I hadn't and she hadn't and we could all do with one so our first stop was for coffee (to go as we had a lot of miles to cover today!) Jonathan is an ultra runner and knew our route which meant I could keep my phone in my pocket and enjoy noticing what was around me. The 3 of us talked and walked and when we got through Brighton Kirstie asked Jonathan if he would like to carry my rucksack for a while, he said yes, I said 'it's ok I'll carry it', as I felt I hadn't carried it very far yet, however I then looked up at the hills ahead of us and quickly changed my mind and said that sounded like a wonderful idea, thanks so much! It was also a reminder to me to be kind to myself on this journey and when opportunities are offered to make that possible/easier I should accept.
We walked across the hills spending some time at the Chattri memorial for Indian soldiers who died in the first world war. In Hassocks we made our way to Chrissy's house who had realised last night that our route would pass around lunchtime and so we ate together a delicious soup she had made for us with homemade bread and Kirstie's cakes, plus a strong coffee from a very nice machine!
On my way in to Chrissy's house I dropped my phone and it wouldn't turn on! I wasn't too worried as David and Nik had kindly given me a spare phone before I left London which had the first few days maps downloaded on to. Luckily I'm used to what to do when I drop my phone so I got it working again!
Jonathan left us at this point, the rucksack was on my back again and Chrissy and her lovely labradoodle joined me and Kirstie for a few miles, we shared more great conversation and appreciation for the footpaths away from busier roads. It's so easy to talk about Ro and there were many times when I did today, he was at the forefront of my mind and heart, I was grateful for the opportunity to share him with others. I'll never get tired of talking about him, he was incredible, beautiful and strong with a fun-loving, caring, adventurous, open spirit.
At 4pm and after 18 miles I arrived in Haywards Heath at Shona and Tim's house, great family friends I've known all my life, lovely to catch up, eat more delicious food and rest overnight ready for day 2. It was so good to have Kirstie's company all day today, helping me begin to settle in to my walking journey.