This past March, I spent time in China and revisited the Great Wall.

The Great Wall is a truly magnificent sight with its steep, stone steps and square, brick turrets that top over ten thousand miles of China’s mountainous hilltops and cragged valleys. The Wall is so expansive you can see it trail off into the distant horizon, and yet up close, the wall surrounds and engulfs you with its presence. It is a feat to imagine it being built by generations of people more than two thousand years ago with basic, rudimentary tools and yet, today, it stands as a humbling reminder of man’s capabilities.

After hiking the wall for a bit, I escaped my tour group and had a moment to catch my breath, undisturbed. I stared off into the distance. Standing before me was one of the seven wonders of the world — a testament to mankind’s physical power — and in my thoughts was Stacey, a beloved friend and ever-present reminder of the power of the human spirit. I could imagine Stacey’s voice, either laughing or asking us to take another picture or gawking at the stray, wild cats milling about the Wall.

My second time to the Great Wall was with Stacey, but in a different capacity than I would have wanted. I miss you, Stacey.