My name is Emily and I am a regular “Joe” no claim to fame except that of being a devoted wife, mother of two boys, and have hiked the Appalachian Trail twice. On my first hike in 2015 I wanted to do it for a cause but I was so bogged down with information overload of planning I didn’t have the brain power to also think about anything out side of myself. My last minute hiking partner who was retired Marines heard about a program where you can carry a rock in memory of a military fallen hero. Neither one of us knew any other information about the group responsible. That didn’t pan out either. So I invited a couple of schools to follow me, at least that gave me a sense of helping in a different way. The night before my summit completing my first AT hike it all came full circle. My Husband Bruce, Nephew Sean, Friend Justin, and myself were sitting around the fire when Justin showed me a surprise. He had two stones for two fallen heroes from the Summit Project, the group unknowingly my hiking buddy had mentioned over 6 months earlier. I started crying before Justin could even finish telling about the stones. We were carrying the memories of Bret Emery and Joel House, two young men from our home area. Justin hadn’t known my desire to do something like this. The tears continued to flow as he told us about the heroes and their families and that I would be able to share in the load with Sean as we all climbed Katahdin for my last summit of the AT, a six month journey. The particular stone Sean and I shared was a little heavy, I took it from him part way up the mountain since I had over 2,000 miles of hiking and was a tad more fit. Even with all those miles I could feel the weight to be burdensome. But then I would quickly remembered the struggles the young man and his family went through giving his life for our country and for others. The weight then seemed trivial and I turned my burden into gratitude for our service men and women. After all, it is because of them we have the freedoms to do things such as hike.
In 2017 I decided to hike the Appalachian Trail again this time knowing about the Summit Project and requested a stone. But due to the duration I would have the stone out of normal circulation my request understandably was denied. That didn’t thwart my vigor to still participate in such an honorable program. I decided to choose my own small stone I had found on my first A.T. hike and gave it a name, Gratitude. I called it a Spirit Stone and it was my way of honoring the works of TSP. I told the The Summit Project what I was going to do and wanted to donate the stone to them upon my return form my 2017 hike, hence the birth of the Spirit Stones. The Summit Project took it a step further and decided to add to the list of Spirit Stones each one having its own definition for hikers to reflect on as they carry one on a journey. Thank you so much to TSP for letting me be a part of this endeavor, our Heroes will never be forgotten!
My name is Emily and I am a regular “Joe” no claim to fame except that of being a devoted wife, mother of two boys, and have hiked the Appalachian Trail twice. On my first hike in 2015 I wanted to do it for a cause but I was so bogged down with information overload of planning I didn’t have the brain power to also think about anything out side of myself. My last minute hiking partner who was retired Marines heard about a program where you can carry a rock in memory of a military fallen hero. Neither one of us knew any other information about the group responsible. That didn’t pan out either. So I invited a couple of schools to follow me, at least that gave me a sense of helping in a different way. The night before my summit completing my first AT hike it all came full circle. My Husband Bruce, Nephew Sean, Friend Justin, and myself were sitting around the fire when Justin showed me a surprise. He had two stones for two fallen heroes from the Summit Project, the group unknowingly my hiking buddy had mentioned over 6 months earlier. I started crying before Justin could even finish telling about the stones. We were carrying the memories of Bret Emery and Joel House, two young men from our home area. Justin hadn’t known my desire to do something like this. The tears continued to flow as he told us about the heroes and their families and that I would be able to share in the load with Sean as we all climbed Katahdin for my last summit of the AT, a six month journey. The particular stone Sean and I shared was a little heavy, I took it from him part way up the mountain since I had over 2,000 miles of hiking and was a tad more fit. Even with all those miles I could feel the weight to be burdensome. But then I would quickly remembered the struggles the young man and his family went through giving his life for our country and for others. The weight then seemed trivial and I turned my burden into gratitude for our service men and women. After all, it is because of them we have the freedoms to do things such as hike.
In 2017 I decided to hike the Appalachian Trail again this time knowing about the Summit Project and requested a stone. But due to the duration I would have the stone out of normal circulation my request understandably was denied. That didn’t thwart my vigor to still participate in such an honorable program. I decided to choose my own small stone I had found on my first A.T. hike and gave it a name, Gratitude. I called it a Spirit Stone and it was my way of honoring the works of TSP. I told the The Summit Project what I was going to do and wanted to donate the stone to them upon my return form my 2017 hike, hence the birth of the Spirit Stones. The Summit Project took it a step further and decided to add to the list of Spirit Stones each one having its own definition for hikers to reflect on as they carry one on a journey. Thank you so much to TSP for letting me be a part of this endeavor, our Heroes will never be forgotten!