Today we left. Today I left Blaise. Since our marriage almost 20 years ago, my wife, myself and all of our kids, Blaise included, have lived under one roof. Different addresses over the years, but one roof. Today that changes. When I get back home, my son Blaise will have started his own “Camino” by teaching for Totus Tuus starting this summer and then heading off to college at K-State in the fall.

Blaise and I have shared many memories together, and for that I am blessed. The Camino we completed in 2021 was something that we will carry with us for the rest of our lives. I know that we will pilgrimage again together, but nothing will replace that summer. I owe much to Blaise for helping to get this Father and Son Camino off the ground. I couldn’t have done it without him. One of my most passionate prayers is that I can form a similar, complex, deep relationship with the other children like we seem to share. And that folks, is why I am on a plane to Spain.

Gabriel and Augustine, you probably won’t ever read this. If you do, it probably won’t be for many years. If I were a teenage boy, I probably wouldn’t have either. Just know how excited I am for our future as well. Not only for this pilgrimage, but for the every day life that we already share under our one roof.