Kilimanjaro Climb : a Rite of Passage for Father and Son Climbing Kilimanjaro is a transformational experience for many people. The things that make the mountain hard are the very things that make it so powerful. In the case of my son Josh and I,the walk up Kilimanjaro proved a powerful symbol ofhis transition into manhood, and a great change in our relationship. Day three on the mountain, Josh was hit with massive headaches. He told me every step felt like a nail driving into his head. And then, on the night we climbed the crater rim, less than 40 minutes from the summit, Josh fell. I was walking ahead, and did not even see it. He was so exhausted that he could not get up. He recalled our guides, debating whether or not they should take him straight down. Josh _ He forced himself to his feet, shook the guides off. He set his face towards the peak and just kept marching. Near the summit he caught up with me and we reached the peak together. " I've never been in so much pain and so happy at the same time,,,he said, as we sat side by side on the frozen rock and looked down over Africa. "You know, in the past when we'd go on camping and rafting trips, you guided and took care of me through it all. But on Kilimanjaro it was different. From the bottom up, I climbed it. I never feltlike a kid, even when 1 was in pain. You never acted like a parent." "That's not quite true,"I replied. "When you told me that on the summit you fell-and I did not even notice, my first thought was, 'Oh my God! I'm such an awful parent!' But then it hit me, 'He got himself up. He walked to the peak on his own. He didn't need me to help.," I realized as I spoke that two people had died that night on Kilimanjaro. A child and a parent. It wasjust two friends who walked down the mountain together. Why did the father feel that two people had died?
Because two people had lost their lives while climbing Kilimanjaro. Because the father and son had become friends. Because they had witnessed an accidence of a father and son. Because two friends had misled him.