The Ripple of Ripplewear was born in 2002. That was the year that I ran away from home. I lived in the woods for 6 months and hiked the 2200+ miles of the Appalachian Trail. It was not as spontaneous as all that however. It was conceived and planned. I had just turned 50. I had raised a family. My youngest child was out of school. Life had not gone as planned. Here I was, holding onto a heartful of broken dreams and had no place to put them. I knew I needed to move on with my life, but I was stuck. Really stuck. So, I ran away. Every day for 6 months, I hoisted on my pack and I walked. And along the way, I changed. I grew. As I grew stronger, my pack grew lighter. The woman who hiked down off Mt. Katahdin on 9/11/02 was definitely not the same woman who had hiked up Springer Mountain on 3/12/02. I was profoundly different. I had learned the power of forgiveness. I walked out of the first half of my life and into the second half. There was no looking back.
Ripple was my trail name. My youngest daughter had named me. It was from the Grateful Dead song . " Ripple on still water. When there is no pebble tossed, nor wind to blow". We need to be the ripple. We need to affect the change. Life does not happen to us. It was never meant to be a spectator sport. " This path is for your step alone." But at the same time, we need to be cognitive of the fact that we do not live in a vacuum. Our ripple touches other ripples. Ripplewear tries to reach out and touch others in a kind and gentle way.