STONEWALK 2004: BOSTON, MA to NEW YORK, NY.

August 24th
By Daniel Jones

August 24 – Today my kids rejoined stonewalk. Colleen met us at the First Congregational Church in Norwalk and dropped off Dylan, Zach and Bronagh. Bronagh was excited to be the lollipop queen again, but we could not find the bag of lollipops. It was a little hectic getting going in the morning. Dylan and Bronagh were arguing about who would sit next to the captain and pull the parking brake. Dylan finally graciously deferred after a poignant moment of silence at the stone to begin our day.

I was in the captain’s seat to begin the day, with my beautiful co-pilot, Bronagh. There was a steep climb as we began and I asked Dot to switch with me. It is hard to sit in the caisson and watch everyone struggle so hard. Dot told me that this was good for me. I needed to watch and trust that it would get done. I did and am very appreciative, but now I want pull all the rest of the hills. Before the beginning of the next hill, Nora took over as captain, but Dot was right about the struggle of being in the caisson while others struggled up this long, steep hill. One other time I was in the caisson as we pulled into Marlborough, CT. That was a shorter hill at the end of the day. This one was a stonewalk hill.

Beverly was back with us for the second day. She would not leave the bar and seemed to have a Bob McIlvaine-like transformation regarding pushing. Lisa Cogliani who was with us in the beginning rejoined again today. She is like Gandalf in the Lord of the Rings trilogy. When I wonder if there are enough people or if we can go as far as we need, hope and help arrive unlooked for. Thank you, Lisa.

Today was a good stonewalk day. We went at least 10 miles and we had some good hills. It was a powerful and beautiful experience to pull with Beverly. We stopped in the shade near a cemetery for a brief break. It was striking to think of the bodies buried there and the bodies the stone represents. There are so many, including Colleen’s family, who have no body to bury. I think of the Disappeared in South and Central America. In Hiroshima and Nagasaki, so many were vaporized in an instant. The dead in the concentration camps during World War II, those who die at sea. The 3,000 dead on 9/11 are not even on half of one percent of those killed in Rwanda during 100 days of ethnic violence and war in 1994. As horrific as the events of September 11th were, and are, for Colleen and me, it has caused us to look out, further and with greater clarity and understanding, or greater realization of what we don’t understand, to see the similar suffering in others all over the world. It has been a blessing to be part of Peaceful Tomorrows and especially this walk that puts into action the reasons we got together in the first place in a way my body can experience.

We stopped before the end of the walk outside the office building where Beverly worked. Some of her co-workers came out and visited with us, sharing a tearful moment with Beverly at the stone. When we shoved off again towards the Government Center, Beverly talked about running out of that building on 9/11 after Sean’s building was hit and driving up the street we had just rolled down with the caisson. She talked about going to work for those days and weeks and months after 9/11. It was another of the terrible beautiful moments of stonewalk.

When we arrived and parked, there was the usual confusion along with generally lingering as we arranged for rides and what not. On the way to her house, Beverly took Cat and me to see several memorials in the town to her husband. We had a chance to talk of the piece in the Times in May of 2002. There was an article of last messages from the towers. I remember being very moved then and grateful to meet Beverly through PT subsequent to reading that.

We went to Beverly’s for a great dinner and some shared guitar playing in the back yard. Cat, Eric, Nora and Brigid Greene, and I took turns playing everything form U2, Cat Power, Bob Dylan and an original song (Liberal Lizzard) penned by Nora. We also had the opportunity to meet Anna Egan and her son, Matthew. Anna’s husband and sister-in-law were killed 9/11 in the south tower. We placed a rock for them yesterday, so it was a moving meeting. They decided to join us for a stretch the 25th.

The kids were very excited to sleep in the RV with me. It was a good day, especially the opportunities to talk at dinner. The best part of these two days has been being with Beverly in her beautiful home. Thank you, Beverly, for everything you do and all you are.