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Since the suicide of Maris, his beloved wife of forty-two years, Noel Braun struggled to find himself. All his life assumptions were overturned and he lost his sense of identity. Endeavouring to find some anchorage, he embarked on a spiritual quest of self-discovery. He decided to walk the most popular routes of the Camino; the ancient pilgrimage route that lead across France and Spain to Santiago de Compostela in the north-west of Spain. This journey is described in his earlier book The Day was Made for Walking.

 

The journey was far from over. Noel felt compelled to resume his quest. At the age of eighty, he returned to France to pursue a less popular Camino route that took him across France and into Spain. Two years later, the urgent need to continue has him walking through Portugal into Spain. Despite his ageing body and his many doubts, he has a confidence and faith in himself to face the arduous physical demands and reach Santiago de Compostela. Woven into his spiritual and emotional journey are fascinating stories of the people he meets.

 

I Guess I'll Just Keep on Walking is a sequel. The physical and the spiritual merge with the ancient and modern. It delves into history and, at the same time, is a memoir and travel guide.

This is the story of Noel who lost Maris, his beloved wife of 42 years, to suicide following years of struggling with depression.

 

The abrupt ending of a life by suicide can be the most catastrophic of events for those left behind. Survivors experience intense pain and massive guilt. Grief banishes survivors to a place so removed from the normal hurly-burly of everyday life that they feel close to madness. Somehow they have to claw their way back.

 

Noel accepted there was no way around his anguish and met suffering head on. His pain allowed him to discover the richness within him and to grow in wisdom which he hopes might be of benefit to others.

 

Maris' death did not shut her out of Noel's life. She remains a very real presence. This is a love story with a difference.

 

'An involving account of the devastation, guilt and pain commonly experienced by people bereaved by suicide. It is a moving love story and a tale of resilience, offering reassurance and a sense of hope to others similarly bereaved.' - Barbara Hocking, OAM Executive Director, SANE Australia

 

'Noel Braun gives us the honour of travelling his suicide grief journey after the loss of his beloved wife Maris. He lets us walk with him and understand the devastation that suicide brings and his road of learning to find hope again.' - Michelle Linn-Gust, PhD., President-Elect, American Association of Suicidology

 

'Noel takes us into his innermost thoughts, feelings and emotions as he describes, with incredible love and candour, 'losing' his Maris. Noel's story is immensely powerful and the depth and duration of his grief is testament to his enduring love for Maris.' - Kate Friis, Counsellor and Psychotherapist

Noel Braun yearns to walk the Camino, the ancient pilgrimage route that leads across France and Spain to Santiago de Compostela. Since the suicide of Maris, his beloved wife of forty-two years, he has struggled to find himself. But is it pure madness? He's an old bloke. At seventy-seven-years, he should be sensible, act his age and relax in a rocking chair. Can his body and spirit withstand the demands? Can he leave family and friends behind? Noel believes this is a journey he MUST undertake. It's a compulsion, a spiritual quest of self-discovery, an urgent need to commune with the world around and beyond him.

 

When Noel begins his journey, he discovers it's not just the rigorous demands of the physical world he must answer. The territory of the heart and soul has its own challenges, which have him searching for spiritual and emotional insights. His travels are interwoven with accounts of the many engaging characters he meets. In time he realises he himself is one of the Camino's characters.

 

The Day Was Made for Walking merges the spiritual with the physical, the ancient with the contemporary. It is a memoir, but also a glimpse into history and a travel guide.