Epilogue The End of the Beginning I slowly open my eyes. With a big gasp, I breathe in air so pure that it actually makes my lungs tingle. And, with that eternal breath I realize the lack of something. For the first time in all of my memory, there is no pain. No constant dull droning pain radiating throughout my hips, back and knees. All I feel is the warmth that seems to be radiating through my pores and in every fiber of this new body. With each step I take, I feel closer to this place I have not seen, a place of final destination that inaudibly calls to me. I have stepped over time to a place where time is no more and where my faith will finally end in sight. This cane that I carry in my hand is of no use to me now. I carry it like a child would carry a stick, swinging it back and forth, chasing the wind with it but having no need to put weight on it. I hold it up and see the well worn handle, now shiny and smooth from years of friction, over all the days and nights that I had struggled to walk. But here on this side of time, all broken things are healed, and empty things are filled. Yes, now it’s just a stick with a hook, and that’s all it will ever be.