As almost all adventures start in my life Trevor texted me
practically telling me I was going hiking with him and his brother Ian and
friend Chris. He has this misconception that I in fact am not a female and
should be included in all broman date activities. Although I quite enjoy being
dragged along, I am fully aware of my lack of athleticism..... So I chose to rope
in Sarah Branoff! (At least I would have a girl to feel bad for me if I epically
failed at this mission.) Turned out this was the best decision I could have ever
made, but for complete opposite reasons. Apparently I am a little more in shape
than I thought, at least that’s what I’m telling myself since Sarah and I,
along with Ian, led the hike the entire trail (me and Sarah even scaled the
side of the mountain for a good tanning location...and for the story of course!!)
Ian’s competitive drive is the sole
reason that we never stopped for more than five minutes at a time up the entire
mountain!!! There were a few older gentlemen trailing us, and by older I mean
nearly three times our age, and Ian would have rather had his legs fall off
from exhaustion than be passed by his grandpa…. So on we trekked! (By the way I
failed to mention Trevor and Chris were carrying 30lb packs to train for a
backpacking trip they are taking in August, but whatever.)
When we all finally
reached the top I literally felt like I had developed asthma, gone swimming and
ran for two days straight. But the view was just breath taking. I felt so accomplished to have made it,
because let me tell you I honestly considered giving up a few times when the
incline felt like it was practically vertical and our one water bottle was
empty. Lucky for us we met a hiker god who informed us of a fresh water spring,
and lucky for me I had Austin on my mind and my wrist.
I had started out the hike
sick to my stomach over the idea of taking a hike. For some reason it just felt
wrong seeing as it was one of the things Austin didn’t get to complete on his
epic New Zealand bucket list. But by time I reached the top of the mountain all
I could think about was how proud he would be of me that I pushed through and
was determined. I sat on top of the mountain, on a very nice tree trunk, with Sarah
for two hours that day. We talked for awhile about Austin and how are lives
would be forever changed, we talked about what we loved about him like his
determination to just live and be happy, but we also talked about our future,
our plans, our dreams. We planned a trip to Greece for next summer and agreed
that we wouldn’t waste this summer sitting alone at home watching One Tree Hill
marathons!
If there is one thing Austin
and I did well together it was have life chats just like me and Sarah had. Sometimes just a quick catch up
on each other’s lives kind of ones, but more often than not we would end up
talking for hours. It is from those chats that I got the privilege to see a
glimpse of the beauty that is Austin Perry Brashears. I heard a quote recently
that said, “ The most beautiful people I know have known defeat, known
suffering, known struggle, known loss, and have found their way out of the
depths. These persons have an appreciation, a sensitivity, and an understanding
of life that fills them with compassion, gentleness, and a deep loving concern.
Beautiful people do not just happen.” I honestly think its all those life chats
with all of us where we expressed and shared our own struggles and defeats that
he gained some of that beauty. He valued relationships and truly allowed
peoples pain and hurt to transform him into the most compassionate and loving
person. He had a gift for making life better and I think he is still using that
gift. By letting us all know loss and know suffering maybe we will find a
little piece of that great beauty Austin had.
Stay Beautiful Love you Austin.
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