Days 14-16: Q the Sun, I Their Shade

WASHINGTON, D.C. —

April 7-9, 2024

Days 14-16:

Over the last three days, I’ve experienced a duo of overlap: the sun overlapped by the moon via solar eclipse and I overlapped along the ADT by my dear friend Q, a solar flare dancing atop the surface of our nation’s Helios, Washington, D.C.

Thanks once more to my talented Aunt Jennifer (who at this point is the PR representative of this journey), we now have “Certain Steps” swagger—hats, t-shirts, and bandanas to be dawned over my backpack, all highlighting our mission to empower those in the paralysis demographic.

I’ve noticed cars take a little longer to drive by me now with the new apparel, and within the first two weeks, we’ve already raised $605 for the Certain Steps Writing Workshop, thanks to YOU. I am so grateful for everyone who has been a part of this journey so far, in whatever roles you have played through your support and compassion. Like the springtime greenery flourishing at every turn along the route, Greg’s spirit is not merely just alive, it’s growing, thanks to your help!

Today, I reached the Fort Trotten Metro Station, completing my 22-mile push from Glen Dale to D.C., an effort made far more bearable in knowing I would be reunited with my friend of 15 years, Q, an absolute gem of a human being who I also met at the Appalachian Servant Event in 2009.

After an embrace long overdue, we threw my gear in the back of their black stick-shift Volkswagen and headed south towards their apartment, where I met their British roommate Wale (a physical therapist familiar with The Recovery Project), showered, and learned how to make a $20 DIY air filter before going out for dinner at the Union Market District, a recently renovated food hall with more than 40 local vendors.

Q treated me to a spicy chicken sandwich and queso fries from Lucky Buns, one of the aforementioned vendors. As we ate atop the Union Market’s outdoor rooftop on a quintessential spring night, the light of Q’s friendship eclipsed the dark canopy overhead. The shape of their bright essence: life-long kin, not by blood but by spirit.

This soul is called Q. Say their name.