Requiem for a lost One World Futbol

Dearly Beloved,

What can I say about a genderless, loveable, indestructible soccer ball that has trudged along with me from Costa Rica to Nuremberg, from the depths of Maui's Haleakala Volcano to the world's highest capital city, Quito, Ecuador? 

A futbol that has been with me through a 14-hour, 27-mile walking marathon; and later in Tijuana Mexico, where two dozen church people turned tons of clay and hauled tons of gravel to build a home in an impoverished community?

A close companion who became my significant other and was there for me during most of the 70,000 vertical feet I climbed to condition myself for that fateful ascent where we became separated, and my companion was left behind on a sun-baked cairn in a barren wilderness?

Who took all the abuse I could dish out and never complained?

How do you pay your respects for a wonderful friend like that?

Well, how's this for openers?

The little guy made it!

Wilson is alive!

He's alive and well and tethered at the top of Mount Adams! 

And here is proof of life:

Isn't that a great smile? Julia Davis, one of our newest members of Team Wilson is sitting on the building at the summit of Mount Adams holding The Unbreakable by the skimpy see-throughs. (Photo by Chad Janis)

Well, OK, we all knew Wilson would be alive. You just can't kill a One World Futbol. They keep going and going and going...and they don't even need those Eveready batteries. But when you're a human being you think metaphorically in terms of life and death. For us, the little guy is not only alive -- Wilson is on the top of the world.

A year ago I made a promise that I would climb Mount Adams on my 70th birthday. And while I didn't make it to the promised land, we, as Team Wilson -- including all you wonderful donors -- we made it to the promised land.

Here's how it happened. 

Remember that cute young couple I met on the way down the mountain? The ones who said they would take Wilson to the top? Well, I got an e-mail from them following their descent. Here's what Chloe Potter wrote to me:

Team Wilson's Chloe & Hubby

Hi Robert!   

I'll cut straight to the chase - we did not find Wilson. We looked carefully at all of the trail posts near crescent glacier and he was nowhere to be found. It seems that someone else took a liking to Wilson. I am so sorry that we do not have your dear friend.   

Thank you so much for sending me your blog post - how inspirational and kind! It made me even more bummed that we didn't find Wilson.  

Despite it all, I wish you best on your ambitious endeavors. Have a great summer!!
Best,
Chloe

Roger Matthews

Well, while I was recruiting this young couple to take Wilson to the top, my side-kick, Roger, who was upstream from me, had buttonholed another couple, Julia Davis and Chad Janis. Roger was so tired he thought we had left the Team Wilson flag behind, not the ball, and they promised to carry the banner. But they found no flag. They found Wilson, confidently waiting, knowing that someone would be along sooner or later.

The rest, as they say is history.

Here's what Julia had to say in an e-mail:

We left Wilson at the top. We hemmed and hawed about whether to bring the ball back down, but ultimately decided to leave it at the top. 

We are happy to be members of Team Wilson and will be going to the website to donate some futbols for your cause. 

We understand your pain with the heat it was certainly terrible that day. We ended up camping a little bit below Lunch Counter and had a mountain goat visit us during the night. We were able to push on the next day and make it to the top with Wilson motivating us along the way (well at least me). Glad that we we could be of service. 

Your friends, Julia and Chad 

She adds in a e-mail that just arrived:

We may make it to the top again, but I don't know that it will be this year :) Chad and I are from Yakima. I work as a prosecuting attorney in the Yakima County  Prosecutor's Office and Chad is a detective for the Yakima Police Department. Hiking is somewhat of a new found hobby for the two of us. We tried to get a few hikes in this year before climbing Adams- including Snoquera Falls and the Union Gap Ridge. Last year we also did a few hikes, nothing like Adams though. Chad was scheduled to climb Adams last August but was unable to go after breaking his foot at a triathlon in Chelan. He grew up in the Valley and always wanted to climb Adams so we made that happen this year! 

Julia Davis and Chad Janis

 The picture above shows the happy couple who saved the day. Ah, but you ask, where is Wilson? See below.

The nature of legends

You know, this is how legends are supposed to end. The hero can't stay around forever. Otherwise he (or she, or it, or they) become too familiar and lose their cachet. Best that they fade into the background, become obscure in the mists of antiquity and become larger than life. I think Wilson would have wanted it that way, don't you?

Oh, there will be more to tell around the campfires, and maybe moments to reminisce. We still have all those little futbols to deliver and more continue to be sponsored. But for now, Wilson has demonstrated his super powers. He made it to the top of the mountain when two old mortals failed. And in the process, he won a few more hearts.

Love,

Robert and Roger

Photo by Sue Butkus