After Atlanta, Jean had planned to walk South toward Mobile AL. Well, we don't always do as planned... Back in mid-September, I received this message:
Subject: Greetings from New Jersey!!!
Date: Tue, 12 Sep 2000 22:19:36 EDT
Hello,
My name is Stephanie Waites and I am a student at Rutgers University in New Brunswick New Jersey. Today something very interesting happened, and I thought you would like to hear about it. I was out for a bike ride and I wasn't sure if I was going the right way, so I saw a man walking with a wheeled-carrier and decided to ask him if he knew the way... Instead he enlightened me with more than just directions! This man, your husband, told me about his determination to walk across the world, and he also showed me pictures of his family. His eyes just brightened as he flipped through his pictures of you and his son and daughter. He gave me your email address so I could correspond with you.
I want you to know that he is very healthy and seems to be in great spirits! I am originally from Northern Alabama, and if your husband is going to be going through my area of Anniston, I am sure my family would be very excited to have him stop by and stay the night. They are very hospitable. I hope that you husband has an incredible journey!!!
He will be in my prayers!
Stephanie Waites
By October 25th, Stephanie's mother, Mary emailed me to invite Jean to her house in Anniston, AL. It was a bit west from the planned route but I received nice invitations for Jean from Mary's family and acquaintance all the way to Mississippi. I had already booked Jean to go to Anniston and Birmingham, AL when we talked on the phone and he told me I did not realize how much of a detour I made him walk by going there! Well, I had to refuse the invitations from Mississippi.
So, on November 10th, in the evening, Jean was in Tallapoosa, GA. It was freezing cold! He stopped in a deserted picnic area and decided to lay his mattress and sleeping bag in the restroom where it was a bit warmer. He slept well because he had walked non-stop all day.
On the 11th, an early rise and start toward Anniston where he arrived around 9:00 p.m., tired of walking all day again. Fortunately, Mary took good care of him and kept him till the 14th. The hospitality in the South is really fabulous!!!
On the 14th, Jean left Mary and Anniston to go to Birmingham at Mary brother's, Chris. In the evening, he slept in his tent, near Riverside, AL and on the 15th, very late, he arrived at Chris' house. Chris is the proud father of a brand new baby. Congratulation to the Schumann!!!
Jean stayed at the Schumann's on the 16th and, thanks to Chris, he was invited to his young daughter's classroom to talk about his journey. At Jean's request, the students had all written "A Word of Peace" that he plans to distribute and exchange at other schools somewhere on earth.
At the Schumann's, Jean also received, free of charge, spare parts for his buggy. For that, many thanks to Rick Bartels of Trek Bicycles Corporation:
Till next week...
Luce