gerald

His name is Gerald.

He's been a traveler since 1998. Before this he was in Europe for a couple years, livin' the life on the Isle of Man. "Those people sure know how to party, I'll tell you what," he said. The party stopped, however, when Gerald became part of a messy love triangle...and got deported.

His motto is "go with the flow." Which explains why, when we picked him up on the side of the highway and asked him where he was headed, he replied with "oh wherever...it's all good you know?" And so we went, from Bend Oregon to Walla Walla Washington, with Gerald in our back seat.

Gerald's life has been pretty intense. He's been run over by a truck. Yup. Run over. He was laying in a field...just mindin' his own business...and a TRUCK ran over his body. He spent 8 days in the hospital. They put a pin in his hip, and sent him away to recover. After that he realized that he wanted to make a "claim to fame." So he walked from Florida to Louisiana...bare foot.

He does a lot of walking, actually. He doesn't hitch hike much. In fact, when we picked him up he wasn't even sticking his thumb out (To be honest, I thought he was a woman when we passed by, so I told Alex that we should stop and pick her up. When we turned around and found out that he was not, in fact, a woman...there really wasn't a whole lot else to say other than, "Hop in, my name is Tara." I know this could sound pretty irresponsible...but Alex was there...and he looked pretty harmless). He told us that he had been walking north from California since March. MARCH! It's the end of May now, in case you were wondering.

Spending that much time by yourself, with only your thoughts to keep you company could make any man go insane. But Gerald keeps himself entertained. Did you know that the next Friday the 13th is in 172 days? And did you know that there will be 3 in the year 2010? Gerald does, and he knows the dates of each. He's really into math right now. He tried to explain this mathematical theory to Alex on the way. That's the point that I stopped listening for a bit...and Alex started saying things like, "uh huh" and "really?" Gerald is really smart. He reads a lot, spends a lot of time in libraries he says.

Oh, he's a college graduate too. Graduated from University of Arizona with an English degree. Creative writing, to be exact. He doesn't write anymore, hasn't for a long time. But believes in its wonderful power to bring people's thoughts to life.

"So how did this become your lifestyle?"

"Oh I just came back from Europe and didn't know what to do, so I just started traveling."

"Do you ever get lonely?"

"Oh sometimes, but I like the solitude. I like being in the open land, able to do what I please."

We asked him if he was ever planning on settling down. He said that if he ever found a better life, he would, but he didn't see that happening. We asked him about his family, he hasn't talked to his parents since 1994. But they're still alive, as far as he knows. He said that there wasn't any conflict, nothing happened to break the family bonds. He believes in treating everybody equally, and the special ties that come with family aren't any more special than the ties you form with people you come into contact with.

I've been thinking a lot about Gerald since we dropped him off and I watched him walk away, off to find somewhere to sleep for the night. Gerald didn't ever ask for anything. We had to convince him to order food at Subway, and he really didn't care where we dropped him off (my parents wouldn't have appreciated a visitor, and Alex lives with his mom). So many things about my experience with Gerald surprised me. He was educated, he was socially pleasant, he was smart, he was so dang chill, and he was content. He broke the mold that my naive little brain had formed about these people that I see on the side of the road.

I wish I knew his story. The whole story. I wish I knew how he became a traveler, and what happened in his life to make him prefer a life of solitude over a life with companionship.

Was there a specific instance? Was it a broken heart? A lack of love? Was it a string of bad choices that made his choice to wander inevitable? Or did he really just choose this lifestyle? Is this really what brings him joy?

I'm not really sure what to think about everything he said. It is so contradictory from what I've ever understood to be a full life. We asked him what he liked about being alone. One of the things he said was, "I like knowing that I could go into the woods and die and nobody would know." Now, in my mind, that would be the absolute worst way to die. Alone. Without anybody knowing or caring that you're missing. But he actually thinks that. This whole thought process rocks my world. And I wish I knew what to do with it. Maybe nothing...

I'm having trouble wrapping this up...you would think that I could find some spiritual application,and then really bring it home with a moving bible verse. But it's not comin', and it's getting late.

So I'll just say this...

Life is so crazy. I hope I meet more people like Gerald in my lifetime. Friends from different walks of life help me understand this world that much better.

Thank you Gerald, wherever you are, for broadening my understanding and giving me the opportunity to love. You are one awesome guy.