WALKING ROUTE 66
Are You An Influencer In The World?
You may be surprised and delighted to find out.
It’s all Jean’s fault.
I met Jean Morehouse in Houston in Feb 2013 at the Joyfully Jobless Weekend I had organized. Barbara Winter, the author of Making a Living Without a Job, was presenting her trademark seminar/workshop that became the basis of her book.
Jean was visiting her daughter in Texas, who had just given birth to a little girl, and decided to audit the workshop as she planned on holding a J.J. Weekend in Missouri.
We got to talking after the workshop, and Jean mentioned that she and her sister planned on walking the Appalachian Trail when Jean turned 60. I told her to let me know when they are, as I may join them. Unbeknownst to me, it planted the idea of a cross-country walk in my brain.
When I started walking Route 66, I contacted her to see if she ever did her Trail walk. She hadn’t, but she started following my journey on FB as I trekked down Route 66.
She was in Texas again, visiting the grandbaby for the long weekend and now was on her way back to Kansas City.
When I left Avilla in the morning, I planned on getting to Carthage by the end of the day. There is a river outside Carthage that looked promising for a camping spot for the night. It’s only about nine miles to the river. I stopped at Flyin W, a c-store/truck stop across from the river, to grab a bite to eat and scout the area on GPS.
Mishelle was refueling her truck when she saw me approaching the store.
“Hey, are you the guy walking to L.A.?” she asked.
It turned out that Ummi, the German Bicyclist girl that I had met the day before, had stopped at Mishelle’s place to get her water bottles refilled and told her to keep an eye out for me. It was time for a selfie. She sent me a friend request on FB later.
As I approached the counter to pay for my food, I noticed that the gentleman was wearing a silver bracelet that is traditional among the Sikh community, but he didn’t have a turban.
I asked him, “Punjab se ho?” (Are you from Punjab?) He did a double-take. I smiled and handed him a flyer. We talked for a few minutes as there were no customers at the moment. Later on, while I was eating, he introduced me to his brother and father and told them about my trip. The father was wearing his turban.
As we talked, I asked them if they can recommend the best spot to camp for the night. The old man looked at his son and said, “Why don’t you set him up for the night at the motel across the street?”
That’s how I ended up at the Best Budget Inn. I called Jean and told her where I was. She said she knew where it was and that she’ll be there around 4 PM. We drove over to a restaurant in town for dinner and caught up on what was going on in our lives.
Then it was back to the motel for me and on the road to K.C. for Jean. I did my laundry and caught up on my blogging before hitting the bed.
As I think back and ponder.
We never know the impact we have on others as we go about living our lives and doing the things we do. Mishelle and I connected because Dale, whom I had met a few days earlier, told Ummi, who in turn told Mishelle about me. All of us are now connected on Facebook and occasionally check in with each other.
Jean shared with me her desire to walk the Appalachian Trail, which led me to walk Route 66 and meeting so many people along the way. All because both Jean and I had read Barbara Winter’s book and ended up meeting at her workshop.
I saw a story this morning by Desiree Driesenaar about being among the top influential writers on Medium.
Her words inspired me to start working on a couple of stories along the same vein. Remember that! When you write, you never know who you’re going to inspite in a way that will alter the trajectory of their life, and as a result, the whole world.
You are magnificent! You are living on purpose, regardless of whether you realize it or not.
Stay blessed and be happy, my friends.
Day 49: Friends. (Original blog post).
Just for fun.
I invite you to tag along if you’re up to it. I am mentioning a few friends who may be interested in it. If you are tagged but don’t want to read my stories daily, let me know in the comments, and I will remove your name moving forward. If you are reading this and aren’t included in the list below, but you’d like to come along, let me know so that I can add you.
Michele Amy Trista Henery Timothy Tim P.G. Sherry Saloni Indra B. A. Linda Sharon Tree Linda Britni Desiree Elisabeth Simona Kristin Helen Julia Chris Rosennab Tom Truenorth Agnes Aurora LauraRaduenz Catherine Joe Stuart Gurpreet BFoundAPen Margie Bob NaNa’sworld Wolfie Rebecca
As always, thank you for reading and responding.
Here are some of my other stories:
Rasheed Hooda is a published author who has contributed to many of Medium’s top Publications; The Startup, The Ascent, P.S. I Love You, Rogues’ Gallery, and ILLUMINATION, to name a few. He is also a Top Writer for several topics. If you like his work, buy him a coffee, he drinks a lot of it.