Finally meeting Miss Maraion... — Debbie Lamb Turner

Insights, Inspirations & Ramblings

To me, the Camino is a snapshot and metaphor for life. It has a beginning, an end, and a journey in between. The Camino journey provides opportunities to experience things with new eyes and it provides lessons to be applied to your life. I’m stunned by the unexpected ‘lessons’ that it gifts if you are open.

I didn’t expect to have the same experience this time in Spain as I did on my last two experiences. I was facilitating a group of ladies, moving their backpacks forward, and preparing their lodging for the night of their arrival. I was not walking daily like they were, so I didn’t expect to be affected in the same way. Boy, was I wrong. I had a lesson that shook me to my core.

On the last day walking day before our short adventure was finished, I arrived into Granon (one of my favorite places ever, by the way). I had hauled the backpacks up the uneven stone steps into the large room where we would all spend the night next to each other on mats on the floor. I had paid the donation for the room and dinner, and gotten a schedule of the events that the albergue offered. There was only one thing left to do – find a bank. Every so often I had to refill my Euros as most places only accepted cash, and today was that day.

I walked across the street from the albergue to a tiny café to ask for directions to the bank. The place was packed with a line of pilgrims extending clear out the door. As I entered, I saw one lone young woman handling things. She was taking orders and ringing up the sales, while another woman was in the room behind cooking and filling the food orders. What could have very easily been chaotic, was not. The young woman, who I later found out was named Irina, was smiling and completely relaxed. There was music playing that the pilgrims were either swaying back and forth to or singing along with. I had to laugh as I entered because the song “Hit the Road, Jack” was playing. How appropriate, I thought.

I inched my way up to the left side of the counter, where Irina would come to drop off the orders and call out, over the music, the person’s name. My plan was to catch her on her next trip over and quickly ask where the bank was. So, I waited.

As she came to drop off an order, she paused to pick up two dirty cups and saucers that were left there by pilgrims. I thought, ‘Now’s my chance’ and quickly blurted out one of the few phrases in Spanish I knew – “Perdon. Donde esta el banco?” (sorry, I don’t know how to put the tilde, the little accent marks over the Spanish words, but you get the gist of it.).

She turned back around, as she had already moved to walk away, sat the cups and saucers down, and purposefully took my left hand and cupped it both of hers. She completely disregarded the long line of hungry pilgrims waiting to be served, and instead paused to look intently into my eyes. Irina then softly said to me, “Buenos dias”. If I could have disappeared, melted into my shoes, whatever, I would have. I felt so embarrassed.

In her kind loving way, she taught me a monumental lesson, ‘Don’t walk in here rudely blurting out your question. It doesn’t matter that I’m busy or that you’re busy. Stop. Look me in the eyes. Greet me first. Then ask.’

Because I was too flustered to muster up any weak form of Spanish, in English I replied, ‘I am so sorry. Buenos dias’. She just smiled, gave my hand a squeeze and replied, ‘Buenos dias’ and proceeded to tell me how to find the bank.

I humbly walked out and headed to the bank hoping I wouldn’t have to see Irina again. I didn’t want her to think, ‘There comes that rude American woman’.

As fate would have it, I DID have to see her again, several times. This was a tiny village and the only place to get anything to eat, and by now I was hungry. So, I checked my pride and walked back in. Of course, she recognized me as I entered. She looked up from her register and gave me a big smile. Over the crowd and from the back of the café, I yelled out to her, ‘Buenos dias’. She greeted me back and we both laughed.

I’ve lovingly thought back several times since then about Irina and the precious lesson she taught me. I realized how many times I rush through life not really noticing the people I pass during my day. The opportunities I miss, and sometimes even avoid, to say hello or give a passing stranger a smile. What am I doing that’s so important? Where am I going that I don’t have five seconds to pause to acknowledge another human being?

I’ve returned home now and yesterday I was hiking our familiar Pinnacle Peak with my husband, Mike. He was ahead and I was going at my own pace as we always do. As I was coming back down, a young man approached me carrying his little boy (maybe a year old) on his backpack. Even though he was still a little way away, I could see this sweet little boy peeking around his daddy’s back waving like crazy at me. I smiled and waved back to him, and we high fived as we passed.

Again, I was reminded what it means to be seen by another person. To be acknowledged and smiled at. I hope I remember that lesson for the rest of my life.

The familiar phrase is, “The Camino provides”. And, yes, it does. But if we’re open, those lessons can also come at home or hiking a mountain by your house.

I was first introduced to Maraion through a video, and then I visited her house twice. It wasn’t until months later that we actually met face to face.

One way our Sisters on Purpose-AZ group encourages, supports, and empowers women is through reaching out in the community to help others; and once a month we gather to provide a service. One of our ‘Sisters’ shared about an organization she held an affinity for called MOMA’s House. MOMA’s House is a safe house for women who are victims of domestic violence. It also serves as a place of refuge for women and girls escaping imprisonment of the sex trafficking trade. (Yes, sex trafficking is right in our own backyard, and it’s a HUGE problem.)

On our first visit, a group of us made breakfast for the women in the program and did a fun little project making jewelry with them. But mostly it was time spent visiting, connecting, and letting them know there are women in their corner who support and encourage them.

Before each project, new volunteers are required to view a brief video about MOMA’s House, its founder, and its mission. That’s where I first saw Maraion. I can’t tell you how moved I was by not only her story, but by her passion for the women under her care and her conviction of purpose. Her big heart filled the room, and many women were moved to tears while watching her on the video.

We went back again to help in cleaning, reorganizing and redecorating the women’s individual bedrooms to make them more comfortable and prettier. This sparked a complete renovation by a group of talented and generous young women who are interior designers. The rooms are now gorgeous!

In writing ‘The Path That Beckons’, Maraion came to mind several times. I knew her experiences would add so much, but I wasn’t sure which chapter would be the best fit. Her story has so many layers, it could inspire under the chapters of Courage, Hope, Infinite Possibilities, etc. But the one that jumped out to me was the chapter entitled ‘The Path of Being Present’. I didn’t even know why, but I trusted my feeling.

I called Maraion and asked if we could meet. She graciously accepted. I was a little nervous for our meeting. I’d seen her on the television screen and and I felt as if I knew her. She, on the other hand, didn’t know me from Adam.

She sat by me at the kitchen table at MOMA’s house, and talked in between bites of lunch she’d just grabbed at a take-out drive through. She apologized, but said she’d been running and hadn’t had a chance to eat yet. I sensed this was probably the norm for her. That was no problem for me, I was just grateful she would fit me into her busy day.

The kindness and love she portrayed on the video was now real and ten-fold as I sat just a few feet away from her. She openly shared her story with me; her own experience with domestic abuse, verbal abuse, feeling called to open MOMA’s House, fear of leaving a secure corporate career, ignoring the naysayers, and the continued struggle to financially stay afloat in this labor of love.

I was inspired by her faith, that deep knowing she is taken care of in spite of the conditions around her. Several times she wanted to give up and go back to a safe ‘job’, but she felt God laid out this plan for her, and she was the one that needed to carry it forth. So she does.

She has a true love and heart for the women that stay for a time at her place. Her desire is to help them and make a profound difference in their lives, and I don’t think anyone can say that’s not happening. She doesn’t get caught up with the numbers that come through her program, as that seems to be the question many ask of her to determine her value. She says she’s satisfied if it’s only one. That’s one woman whose life is better.

Since writing her chapter, she shared with me it was the right chapter for her. She believes many times in our lives when we’ve experienced difficult times, it’s hard to move forward and live in the present. We keep stuck with the past. She said reflecting and telling her story has been a healing experience. One that affirms what she’s doing, and how the past can be left in the past to enjoy the ‘present’ that is today.

Thank you, Miss Maraion, for your generosity and your beautiful spirit. I love you.

Insights, Inspirations & Ramblings

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