Tuesday, June 28, 2005

Those who've gone before

There's nothing as inspiring as hearing the stories of others who have made journeys across Africa. And today I found out that our garden-lady, a wrinkled old British dame, was in the second group of people to cross the Sahara! She was a mere slip of an 18 year old, and made the trip by truck with the Foreign Legion. She says they were all ex-SS - tall and blonde and handsome, really nice guys, and just what a young girl needed to keep her safe in the desert.

She's had an absolutely fascinating life. Her son keeps urging her to get her memoirs down on tape, as he wants to make a movie of her life story. She says "what happened to me would never happen to you" - she's seen it all, done it all.

People like this are jewels - you're lucky if you find them, and even luckier if you can sit at their feet and hear their stories. I wish she'd let me do just that!

I've been hanging on every word I can find of people who have lived the adventure. There's nothing like a shot of inspiration when doubt creeps in!

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