Elizabeth Watkins -

To be completely honest, I didn't know one thing about Chris McCandless until I looked him up online ten minutes before I was leaving to go to the presentation. A quick overview online showed me that he died in the wilderness and had a book written about him. If anything, the opinion I decided on then and there at my computer was that this was a person who lived life recklessly and without fear. There was nothing that could have prepared me for the presentation by his parents. Chris's parents clearly showed that their son was a responsible, hard-working, and intelligent man who loved life. These qualities were not just opinion. Chris graduated from college with honors, was a talented writer, and loved literature. From seeing pictures of him camping and hiking with his family, one can see that he was family-oriented, as well. Thirty minutes into the presentation, my opinion of Chris as a person took a 180 degree turn. That led me to rethink his experiences. Clearly, his adventure was not a decision to simply leave his family and friends to explore different places, but it was spiritual and with purpose. His father said, "He wasn't running, he was seeking." He also said that "He touched a lot of lives." It seems to me that Chris McCandless was getting more out of life. His adventures were motivated by a fierce determination to grow spiritually. The plaque on the bus sums it up best stating that Chris’s adventure was "how he could best realize God's gift of life." If that's not spiritual, I don't know what is. It amazes me that 15 years after their son's death, Mr. and Mrs. McCandless still have the immense gift of being able to share and connect with their son's life.