Anyone who knew Sharon Warren knew how great a part the Camino de Santiago played in her life. Ever since dad happened upon a newspaper article in '05 about a retired Aussie walking the way, their lives were transformed forever. They hungrily joined the Cult of Camino.
Mum walked her first camino in 2007 and that was nearly all we heard about for the next 18 years. It seemed as though mum spent each waking moment living and breathing scallop shells and yellow arrows. From planning her next camino, hosting themed dinner parties (an excuse to gorge on vino tinto and paella), walking a new route or sharing her wisdom and advice with other pilgrims online, the Camino had well and truly sunk its hooks in. Mum made some of her dearest friends through the camino community, both overseas and here in Australia. One fellow pilgrim, Silvio Sirias, kindly invited me to teach in Nicaragua. Mum's camino family supported her right until the end.
When mum received her prognosis, we were forced to have the kinds of conversations nobody wants to have. Burial or cremation? Where to be laid to rest? Mum chose cremation, but couldn't decide on her final resting place. Her birthplace of Sydney did not appeal and she felt no particular affinity for any one locale in the Clarence Valley. "What about Spain?" my brother asked, and her eyes lit up. We had our answer.
Mum always wanted us to walk the Camino together as a family. So, on the 21st of April,2025 as we set out from St Jean Pied de Port on our 900km+ journey, she will get her wish. We will lay mum to rest at four places of her choosing along the way: crossing the Pyrenees, Santiago de Compostela, Muxia and, finally, at the "end of the earth" Finisterre.