At 8:45 a.m, we hit the streets of San José to join the thousands already on their way to Cartago. With extra shoes in my back pack, some water, and a raincoat, my nanny (turned faithful guide for the day) and I, embarked on a walk to give thanks. I learned it’s all about thanks.

It’s easy to find the way to Cartago: Just follow the flow. We hopped into a stream of people from Tilarán. A town north of San José. They’d already been walking for six days. As we moved through San Jose, the vendors were setting up for sales. Pharmacies sold band aides and aspirins; corner grocery stores put out cold water; and guys parked trucks loaded with fruit along the curb. After an hour of walking, we began to clear San José and entered the crowded suburb of San Pedro. Two hours into the walk, we bought coconut water and drank without stopping. Though people talked as they walked, it was amazingly quiet. Mother’s pushed babies in rickety strollers fathers caressed infants to their chests, and old couples walked hand in hand. I could hear the determination in the steps of the sneakers and the scrape of the sandals. After leaving San Pedro, we sat for a break. People we had passed earlier now passed us by. It felt good to take off my shoes. Everyone’s feet hurt. Along any point in the road, people stop and rub out the cramps and bandage blisters. The Red Cross is stationed all along the route. We packed up and prepared for what my guide said was Ochmogo: the big hill through Tres Rios. We ate food on sticks when we could and kept walking. Everyone just kept walking. After five and on-half hours, we arrived in the courtyard of the church. We walked to the entrance of the church and chose to finish on our knees to the shrine of the La Virgen de los Angeles. Before leaving, I was told it is important to bring a list of those you want to pray for, those that need special help. My nanny got on her knees and pulled out a photo of my daughter and my son. This trip was for Addison and to help him walk she told me. She took out the framed photo she’d hauled all the way down in her backpack and held it over her head as she crawled to the altar saying prayers for my son. The tears of all those around me became mine. Everyone who’d come to this place came to help someone else. They came to give thanks for the blessings already in their life and to help those they loved. This little statue, La Virgen de los Angeles is the mother of Costa Rica, the patron. In the basement of the church hang little charms: limbs, eyes, torsos, children, breasts, feet, …replicas fashioned by a jeweler of the body part cured after coming to Cartago on August 1st-2nd. The walk is a gift of time, energy, and finally deep gratitude for life, including the life of peace in Costa Rica. I saw people all moving together for a few hours, doing nothing more than walking in hopes of all arriving at the same goal. Unlike a marathon or a mountain climb, anyone can join in step and give this walk a try. It’s the people’s marathon I guess. And what better thing to carry on our backs than gratitude? That’s something that will really cover us when it rains. A special note of thanks to all those who wished me well. I carried you with me.