Injury or No Injury

I gotta say, I think I've been feeling a lot more remorse for the death of the Dreamcatcher Mississippi River run of 2006 than I realized, or let on. That, and guilt. It was one thing to come to terms with the fact that my body was screaming for me to stop and having to heed that warning, but yet another thing when three days later Frank quit, too. I felt REALLY bad, in fact, so bad that my mind's only defense was to just shut down, shut it out, work towards the next goal which was getting home.

Well, I'm pleased to have received these words from Frank in an email tonight. He writes:

"Don't kick yourself too much for stopping. Injury or no injury, the river was just TOO BIG for a little canoe this time of year. With the first of the winter storms just over the horizon, and water temperature dropping by the day, it would have been absolutely foolhardy to continue. One unfortunate dunk in the middle of a mile-wide section in the river and hyperthermia would have set in before we could get dry and safe. In this case, much better safe than sorry."

Thank you, again, to all those who helped us along the way. I will safeguard your dreams, I promise. - RSM