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b'As the pace of lighting these campfires increases—and the goal of\\n lighting the “last campfire” on May 13th approaches--I\\n realize what a luxury it has been to meander slowly through the memories\\n and discoveries of a lifetime.At this campfire I talk about becoming part\\n of a Civil Rights Pilgrimage in the fall of 2014. Preparing for those nine\\n days on the bus awakened countless memories and connected me in new ways\\n to who I had been and what I had thought and believed in 1968 and 1969. Looking\\n back I realized how much faith I had in March of 1968. When I turned twenty-one\\n that first day of spring I believed that Robert Kennedy would become the\\n President, that Martin Luther King, Jr. would live long and eloquently. The\\n recently released Kerner Report, looking at the Detroit riots of a year earlier,\\n offered a road map to racial reconciliation. I also believed that the Viet\\n Nam War would soon be over. I mean, even Presidential candidate, Richard\\n Nixon, tapped his coat pocket and talked of a secret plan for peace. Twelve\\n months later so much had changed. I also learned during that time that my\\n father had been in a mental institution when I was born and much of what\\n I believed was suddenly in doubt.To be able to see that time from this place\\n is enlightening for me both from a perspective of where I was and we were\\n then as well as shining a different light on where we are now.Understanding\\n what it means to be part of a larger Pilgrimage has also helped transformed\\n my personal journey into a Pilgrimage. That realization fills me with gratitude. '