Susana and Danny (Photo – Susana Porras)
After a succession of trains, planes, and automobiles, I managed to arrive at London Heathrow a few hours before my connecting flight to Los Angeles. I checked in, found a comfy chair, and dozed off. I awoke with less than twenty minutes until departure. I grabbed my patch-covered rucksack and sprinted across London’s largest airport. Disheveled, winded, and sweaty, I was the last passenger to stumble across the threshold and make the long trek down the center aisle of the Boeing 777.
By Susana Porras
I arrived at my row and was greeted by a nice young man whose calm demeanor reflected the ease of someone who had arrived on time. He offered to help me with my bag, and I accepted, but it would be hours before we exchanged words again.
I binge-watched movies while he gracefully sipped his glass of whiskey. I got three movies under my belt before I worked up the courage to speak to him again. I can’t remember how the conversation started, but once it did, it never stopped. He was traveling with his girlfriend, and they were heading to L.A. for a road trip. By the time we landed, we were friends and had made dinner plans.
His name was Danny, and he and his girlfriend were set to camp for a week in Yosemite, visit San Francisco, and party in Vegas before stopping in Pasadena to see me. When we finally met up, they told me all about their adventures—the burgers they ate, the friends they made, and their evenings out in the wilderness.
The girlfriend didn’t last long, but our friendship did. Danny visited L.A. a couple more times, and my dad and I visited him in York, England. Our relationship, however, wasn’t purely friendly—it was more of a friendly rivalry. Danny wasn’t the only adventure-seeker; I, too, had a serious case of the travel bug, and we were constantly trying to outdo one another. Danny, though, always seemed to be doing something a bit more exciting than I was. If he wasn’t at a rave in central London, he was surfing in Malibu or working just enough to fund his next trip.
It was the summer of 2017, and my dad and I had just returned from a trip to Europe. We hadn’t been home long when he said he wanted to walk the granddaddy of all hikes: the 500-mile pilgrimage of the Camino de Santiago. My eyes widened, my imagination soared, and—more importantly—I finally had something that might outdo anything Danny had ever done.
I texted Danny with the news, but there was no response. Funny, I thought—he always replies to my messages. I didn’t think much of it; he had, in fact, lost his phone on his last trip. About a month later, I received a call from England. It wasn’t Danny—it was his mom. I’d never met her, and I could tell from the tone of her voice that this wasn’t a social call.
I sat up. My mouth went dry, my stomach tightened, and my body braced for the worst. Danny wasn’t dead; however, he’d had an accident and, as a result, suffered a major stroke. When he awoke, he was unable to walk, talk, read, write, or even feed himself. The news made me ill. Danny was much younger than I, and the thought of something like this happening to someone who lived to live life made me nauseous.
I knew Danny the explorer, the marathon runner, and the dreamer, but I’d never met Danny the fighter. Within weeks, he was back home taking on the biggest challenge of his life. By the spring of 2019, he’d already uttered his first words, taken his first steps, and was living on his own. My dad canceled plans to travel with me that year, so I called Danny and before I could finish asking if he’d join me at the Monaco Grand Prix, he finished my ask with an enthusiastic yes.
Danny was no longer the suave young man I had met, but his confidence, charisma, and charm were still intact. We had a wonderful time at the races and agreed we’d travel again. Little did we know that within months, neither of us would be globetrotting.
Both Danny and I discovered untapped talents during the COVID-19 lockdowns. Unable to do his daily outdoor runs, Danny embraced his creative spirit and found solace in a newfound love for illustration. I, too, found the confidence I needed to begin writing. Our combined efforts produced a children’s book, Danny’s Trails: Mossley, England—written by me and illustrated by Danny. A tale filled with youthful creativity and lessons in inner awakening and mindfulness, it also serves as dignified reading for adults recovering from brain injuries who are learning to read again.
Don’t miss the opportunity to meet Susana Porras and celebrate the strength of friendship and creativity with “Danny’s Trails: Mossley, England”—a story that will inspire both children and adults alike.
Monday, May 12, 2025 5:00 pm Location Hastings Branch Library 3325 E Orange Grove Blvd Pasadena, CA 91107
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