Nanda Devi

These men have always known about Nanda Devi.

When Brother Pius decided to create an outward bound experience for troubled youth, he decided to call it Darrow Hall. After Clarence Darrow. Jay doesn't know exactly why.  Maybe to implicitly express his rebellion against  Catholic doctrine?  But he wanted to do it right, so he hired Willi Unsoeld to create the ropes course.  Jay tells me it was a wonderful ropes course, one of the best he's ever seen, which is unsurprising, given the fact that Willi Unsoeld is one of the greatest mountaineers who ever lived.

Willi was present at the start of Darrow Hall, as were my husband and his friends, all boys graduating from St. Louis' court of Catholic schools.
His best friend was Hondo.  The friends called themselves the Betts brothers.  There was Billy, Hondo, Rasputin...when I married Jay, I, too, was given a Betts name.

Willi had a daughter, and he loved her so much, that he named her after the mountain he loved the most, Nanda Devi.
Nanda loved the mountains, too.  And when she was a young woman, she and her dad attempted her namesake.  But she died.  Not because of the mountain, but because of an illness.

So Jay and Hondo have always known and loved, and sorrowed over, Nanda Devi.

We heard the trickle of news at first...just a whisper...Jay said.."you know, I think Hondo might be there..." when we heard about the climbers who missed their check point. Over the next few days, it has become more and more apparent, that Hondo isn't coming back.

I know a lot of wonderful stories about Hondo. He and Jay traveled all over South America together, and all over the Southwest.  He lived a few hours away, but always found the time to come to our gatherings, sit by the pond, drink beer.

They haven't confirmed his death, and I find myself thinking, if any one of them had a chance of making it, it would be Hondo.  Because he's got this sort of sheen to him...hard to put into words.   This solid, pleasant, implacable tenacity.

Jay grieves. Doesn't want to be alone, which is how he shows it. The house is peculiarly clean.   Don't know how to close this...