Author Wally Glover sits in his office at his home in Columbus, Ind., Monday, Nov. 1, 2021.
Mike Wolanin | The Republic
Walter Glover understands that this could be the most challenging mountain ever. And that’s saying plenty for a guy who has climbed to Mount Everest’s base camp and scaled Kilimanjaro, and part of both Aconcagua and Ranier, among the world’s highest peaks.
He walks gingerly through his California Street living room, like a man careful of his physical and spiritual footprint in a life that, at age 73, is now partly fraught with the uncertainty of an unforgiving, rocky ledge.
Not that he believed as a Catholic Christian that anything was ever more firm than loose gravel, anyway, all things considered.
“This is not the way I envisioned my life at this point,” said Glover, a chaplain, grief counselor, journalist and a public relations specialist through the years since arriving in Columbus in 1972. “All of the sudden, I don’t walk so well. … And I’ve had to mourn the loss of those things.”
A diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease in February ago forced that. He now sits at his kitchen table quoting Scripture about everything from pain to healing, borrows wisdom from renowned grief expert Dr. Alan Wolfelt, whom he has trained under, and plants his gratitude and hope as firmly as a climber’s spiked crampon to hold him emotionally steady.
His forthcoming fourth book, “Camino Walk Across Spain Book IV,” focuses on his 2014 journey along the Camino de Santiago, a traditional pilgrimage route in France and Spain, is aimed for publication later this year from Covenant Publishing, among the larger international Christian book houses. He can no longer tackle even a segment of such a task.
Now, his most important steps are those related to a journey of acceptance and peace.
“Frankly, there have been many nights of tears,” he said of his new climb.
But he does not ask God for healing. He sees that as somewhat unfair after spending a chunk of his ministry as a certified grief counselor helping others navigate profound losses.
“The parents in the Wings For the Journey groups I facilitated didn’t get their (deceased) kids back,” Glover said. “The people I ministered to in hospice didn’t get their (deceased) mate back.”
He also feels at least slightly awkward about even considering seeking miraculous healing when other Parkinson’s patients in his Rock Steady Boxing class at the local DeathProof Crossfit might not find such wholeness.
Here is where he reaches for a book on his kitchen table and reads the words of the Rev. Richard Malloy and perhaps his favorite quote about hope: “Hope is the grace to live with reality and still find peace and joy.”
He beams when he finds such depth, as if he has pulled himself onto a peak in order to view his circumstances from a whole new perspective. So that’s where he stands on his physical situation.
“Is it really even fair for me to ask God to give me back my legs?” he asks. “I just ask God not to let things get any worse.”
DeathProof Crossfit Co-Owner Jase Robinson, who leads Rock Steady Boxing, has seen Glover’s impact at sparking hope in other class members to push for physical progress that outpaces Parkinson’s gradual losses. Robinson loved it when Glover wore climbing gear to class a few days ago and spoke to classmates of some of his climbing and globetrotting adventures.
“People like Wally act as a tremendous catalyst for others,” Robinson said. “It’s pretty phenomenal to have him in there.”
Robinson feels that Glover embodies a galvanizing and healthy approach to an illness that can leave some patients in depression and immobility.
“He demonstrates to all of us that, despite Parkinson’s, life’s aspirations still can be met,” Robinson said. “And other people can be pulled and drawn to that.”
In his home office, Glover’s aspirations of climbing past stereotypes about aging surround him in newspaper clippings wallpapered everywhere, chronicling his struggles and his summits. This story clearly introduces a new path and a new ascent that challenges him in a new manner.
“I don’t take anything for granted,” he says, knowing that every step is precious.
In facing adversity, then, Walter Glover is no longer merely among the climbers aiming to surmount it. Perhaps now, in some way, he is the sherpa guiding others through a part of it.
