I saw a movie with my wife on Friday evening, May 16, as a quiet date before my surgery. The theater was a small, old place with a single screen. It has a local atmosphere in New Zealand, where it blends well with nature. The movie was called “Salt Road,” which is the title of today's short post.

  It's a British movie, and I think it's rarely shown in Korea. The movie is based on a true story, and the main character is a young man in love with a woman. The film is based on a true story, and the main character is still alive. To summarize the plot a bit (watch it in English), it goes like this

  Rainer and Moss Win embark on a 630-mile trek along the beautiful but rugged Cornish, Devon, and Dorset coastline. Forced out of their home by a friend's fraud, they decide to seek solace in nature after a book they come across in a hurry. The book is a journey along the English coastline, reminiscent of the Camino de Santiago. They make a desperate decision to walk to come to terms with their situation. Financially depleted and with only a tent and a few essentials, they take each step along the way. With each step, the movie shows their strength and determination growing. The Salt Road to the Coast shows that the journey is exhilarating, challenging, and liberating all at the same time (summary from the movie pamphlet)

  There's a particular reason this movie resonated with me. Rainer, the husband in the movie, was diagnosed with a rare degenerative brain disease called CBD (with a 7-8 year time frame) and set out on the road with a disability. It was reminiscent of the path my wife and I are on now, after her second ovarian cancer recurrence in 2015, her third ovarian cancer recurrence in 10 years, and her surgery four days later (May 20).

  I became even more immersed in the movie as I realized that the couple who needed a breakthrough in sudden tribulations overlapped with our own today. At the end of the movie, I remembered the words of a woman passing by. We live our lives as if we are salted with too many things. I could relate to the idea of being salted with material things for survival, relationships, obligations, etc., in the journey of life. The couple seems to be deeply inspired by the words of a woman they meet in passing on the beach, as they find themselves homeless on their journey to a simple breakthrough.

  The husband then speaks, not with despair, but with hope, like a bird circling the sky. He says he wants to write their story and publish it as a book. This story became a novel, and then a movie. My wife and I are also walking the salt road like them.

https://youtu.be/AzsMs-O4WMk