MT. MESTRE: the test of one's warrior spirit.

When my friend Abi Mestre died two years ago I looked for some way I could commemorate his warrior spirit I had bore witness to while I knew him. Like me, Abi was a an avid and a very accomplished wrestler. Abi went on to take his talents and begin training in mixed martial arts, going so far as to earn professional status. Abi was one of the most driven, determined, and all around one of the best human begins I've ever met. We he passed away it seemed only fitting that I would dedicate the enormously steep hill behind where I lived in New Jersey to his memory.

  I had used the hill to train myself for upcoming wrestling matches and competitions in the past. Most likely, if I were to race Abi up the hill, he would've beaten me by a mile. Abi would've never shied away from a challenge that would help make him a better fighter, which is why I feel he would have loved running this hill himself. I named the place Mt. Mestre after him, this place where few go is sacred to me. It is sacred because each time I run it I honor his memory, I do not allow myself to quit or given anything less than my full effort while running, Abi would not have tolerated it. In some eerie way, sometimes I can just tell whether or not he approves of this form of tribute i just offered him. In cases that i feel he doesn't, then I run back down to do it again. 

Like the tribes of Native Americans who revere the earth and all that comes from it; the earth crafted this mountain centuries ago to stand as a testament to the warrior spirit. All I did was give it a name.