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Dee Warner has gone through many changes in her life. After a long career climbing the pharmaceutical corporate ladder, this Hockessin resident chose to obtain her Masters in Divinity and become a chaplain.
For the past two years, Warner, 63, has worked as a hospice chaplain Gentiva Hospice, helping those who are dying and their loved ones cope with death. “I help other people celebrate the ups and downs of life and their life journey,” Warner said. “Every day is spent with others acknowledging their life journeys; I wanted a space to acknowledge mine,” Warner said.
This is what led Warner to the Camino de Santiago, or The Way of St. James, a 2,000-year-old path in northern Spain. Many people are attracted to the Camino de Santiago for different reasons, but often it is a destination for a pilgrimage, or spiritual journey. “I needed a break to look at the bigger picture, to see where my life fits,” Warner said. She had heard of the Camino but never thought that she would actually go.
Warner said she knew there was no turning back when her sons bought a non-refundable plane ticket for her to Madrid. She knew then that serious physical preparations were in order. “I prepared rigorously for six months,” Warner said. “I am in a hiking group, I went swimming at the Y, and I did step aerobics.” She also had to break in her hiking boots before the pilgrimage, and luckily, did not get one blister the whole time.
Warner prepared mentally and spiritually as well. “I did a lot of contemplative reading, and spent a lot of quiet time,” she said.
She said the only time she ever thought to herself, “Why am I doing this?” was at the beginning of her journey. There were complications on her flight from Philadelphia to Madrid, and her first night in Pamplona, it was pouring rain, she did not speak any Spanish, and she was absolutely drenched.
The next morning, the sun was shining, and she began her journey on the most popular pilgrimage route, the camino francés, which begins at Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port or Roncesvalles in the Pyrenees and ends in Santiago. The route is approximately 500 miles, and Warner walked 350 miles of it alone.
Warner carried with her a credential, or “pilgrims passport.” It is stamped with the official St. James stamp of each town at which she stayed, but is proof for the Pilgrim's Office in Santiago that the journey is accomplished according to an official route. With her credential, Warner obtained a compostela, a certificate of accomplishment given to pilgrims who walked a minimum of 100 km.
Dee Warner has gone through many changes in her life. After a long career climbing the pharmaceutical corporate ladder, this Hockessin resident chose to obtain her Masters in Divinity and become a chaplain.
For the past two years, Warner, 63, has worked as a hospice chaplain Gentiva Hospice, helping those who are dying and their loved ones cope with death. “I help other people celebrate the ups and downs of life and their life journey,” Warner said. “Every day is spent with others acknowledging their life journeys; I wanted a space to acknowledge mine,” Warner said.
This is what led Warner to the Camino de Santiago, or The Way of St. James, a 2,000-year-old path in northern Spain. Many people are attracted to the Camino de Santiago for different reasons, but often it is a destination for a pilgrimage, or spiritual journey. “I needed a break to look at the bigger picture, to see where my life fits,” Warner said. She had heard of the Camino but never thought that she would actually go.
Warner said she knew there was no turning back when her sons bought a non-refundable plane ticket for her to Madrid. She knew then that serious physical preparations were in order. “I prepared rigorously for six months,” Warner said. “I am in a hiking group, I went swimming at the Y, and I did step aerobics.” She also had to break in her hiking boots before the pilgrimage, and luckily, did not get one blister the whole time.
Warner prepared mentally and spiritually as well. “I did a lot of contemplative reading, and spent a lot of quiet time,” she said.
She said the only time she ever thought to herself, “Why am I doing this?” was at the beginning of her journey. There were complications on her flight from Philadelphia to Madrid, and her first night in Pamplona, it was pouring rain, she did not speak any Spanish, and she was absolutely drenched.
The next morning, the sun was shining, and she began her journey on the most popular pilgrimage route, the camino francés, which begins at Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port or Roncesvalles in the Pyrenees and ends in Santiago. The route is approximately 500 miles, and Warner walked 350 miles of it alone.
Warner carried with her a credential, or “pilgrims passport.” It is stamped with the official St. James stamp of each town at which she stayed, but is proof for the Pilgrim's Office in Santiago that the journey is accomplished according to an official route. With her credential, Warner obtained a compostela, a certificate of accomplishment given to pilgrims who walked a minimum of 100 km.
Warner said that although she completed her journey solo, she never felt like she was by herself. “There is a famous saying,” Warner said. “You’re never alone on the camino.” Regardless of where people come from to walk the camino, they are all walking toward a common goal, which brings people together.
Warner is writing a book about her experiences on the camino, and said she would definitely take the pilgrimage again. “I have a deeper sense of everyone’s life journey,” Warner said.
If Delaware residents are interested in discerning a future Camino pilgrimage or local pilgrimage with Dee Warner, contact her at The Jesus House at 302-995-6859 or visit website is www.jesushousecenter.org.
