faith! - The Case Family
If you were to enter Christy and Bill Case’s home, you might notice four beautiful calligraphed certificates framed near their front door.
Christy hung the family’s compostellas or camino certificates there to remind them that they are each pilgrims of Christ, and that though the journey can sometimes be hard, it can also be beautiful and filled with unexpected surprises, including people who encourage you along the way.
Christy and Bill and their two children, Lucy, 17, and Liam 15, earned the certificates after walking a 75-mile portion of the Camino de Santiago in Spain this summer along with others from St. Martin’s.
They were not always together along the ancient trails – pilgrims often split up and walk with others, or by themselves, reconnecting at the end of the day – but they will always share the memory of having been on the trip as a family.
“Since we’ve been home, we have said we are glad we did it together,” Bill said. “We still talk about it.”
Liam finds the memories comforting.
“When we’re in our normal lives, it reminds me … to maybe take a break. Walk the trail. Clear your head,” he said.
Lucy loves to think about the connectedness she felt while there – the connection to her fellow youth group members, to another culture and to her family.
“I can still feel that right now,” she said.
The Case family began preparing for the camino several months out by taking long walks up and down neighborhood hills and along the trails at Sesquicentennial State Park. They had reached the ability to walk seven-miles when their departure date arrived, and, yet, the rough terrain and steep inclines they encountered were surprising.
Bill soon realized they may have trained on too much flat ground. “Some of the hills were pretty steep, but I was determined. You say to yourself, ‘I’ve got to do this. I’ve got to finish.’”
For Lucy, the hardest part was having the patience to pace herself – a fast-walker – with the others.
“We were all walking at different paces. I had sympathy for the others, but it was the hardest struggle to be patient,” she said.
In spite of the hills and rocky paths, Liam found himself unexpectedly enjoying himself. “The walking was peaceful. It was fun talking with friends” along the way.
Christy’s struggle came in fearing she might not be able to finish.
Almost a year out from colon cancer surgery, Christy learned quickly that her body was more tired than she had anticipated. She ended her days stiff and sore.
“That made me very slow, but I did it,” she said. “The whole thing.”
A particularly meaningful part of the trip for Christy came on a day when she was walking by herself.
The morning had begun with a group devotion centered around the word “gratitude.” With each step Christy took, she found herself overwhelmed with emotion.
“There were times when I just cried,” she said. “I was just feeling so grateful for the kids, for Bill, and for recovering from surgery.”
Reflecting on the experience in hindsight, Christy believes the camino is a bit like the experience of love, something she shared on the day she led the morning devotion, choosing the word “love” for her focal point.
“Love is a lot like this camino,” she said. “Love is not always easy like flat ground. Sometimes love is hard like the hills. It can be scary like the rocks and tree roots.”
But, she said, the point is not to give up on love, just like you don’t give up on walking the camino.
Another lesson Christy learned is that once a pilgrim, always a pilgrim.
“Your camino continues on in your life, every day.”
About the Cases
The Cases have been members of St. Martin’s since 2009.
Bill and Christy are the parents of Lucy, 17, who will graduate from A.C. Flora High School in May, and Liam, 15, who is a sophomore at A.C. Flora.
