The moment I stepped outside and looked at the sky, I knew.

It looked like a storm was brewing, mirroring the slow cascade of health and personal issues my friend Elisabeth had been dealing with.

In Portugal we say ‘uma desgraça nunca vem só,” which basically means ‘when it rains, it pours!” That is exactly what it felt like every weekend, when I met Elisabeth and asked her how she was.

She would say, “well you are never going to believe this but …”. And every time, I wished I did not have to believe it.

So this weekend, we had decided to take our mind off things and go for a walk in a beautiful natural park where rivers and forest paths cross each other and where your lungs are happy to breathe nature’s fresh, pure air again.

Being winter, we knew the weather can change fast but although the signs were in the skies and all around us, we decided to go for it anyway. I asked if there was a pathway and she told me yes, but that she thought it would be nice to go up a stretch among the trees first and then, once at the top, we could follow the path. Now, I don’t know if you know this, but Austrians find it quite boring to just follow a pathway, it is in their DNA to climb mountains and take dangerous paths to make it more interesting.

I looked at the sky again. It was getting darker by the minute, the wind was picking up but I said fine, better do it now before the storm hits. So we started climbing among the tall trees and suddenly, almost half way through, in a second, the world went crazy!

Strong gusts of wind started hitting us from all sides, leaves took flight and branches began breaking all around us. Then it started raining. We stopped, shocked not knowing what to do. I noticed fallen trees nearby and it was hard not to imagine that something could fall on us at any minute.

Elisabeth asked if we should turn back, but looking at our situation, the trees and our decreasing visibility, it felt like a gamble. I knew it could go either way. Going down, in those conditions could mean slipping, so I suggested we continue up and try to reach the top.

She agreed, and we kept climbing. I know it sounds dramatic in hindsight but I could not help wondering if this was it. Was I really going to die, crushed by a tree in the Austrian Alps? Well, I thought, there are worse ways to go than being surrounded by beautiful nature.

I  looked at Elisabeth and could tell she was thinking something similar. With everything already happening in her life, what else could possibly hit her? Sometimes a storm feels like the perfect mirror for all that we carry. We looked at each other and suddenly burst into laughter.

Let’s stop with the drama and  just focus on reaching the top, I said.

By the time we made it safely out of reach of falling trees, we were soaked but happy. The rain kept coming, stubborn and relentless, but at that point we stopped caring. We talked, laughed and felt a freedom that is hard to explain. We both have families, responsibilities, but in that moment, it was just us. Our friendship. Me choosing to be present for a friend who needed it.

Moments like these are rare in our busy lives. Between screens, notifications, and constant noise, we forget how to slow down. How to stay. How to really be there.

When was the last time you made the effort to meet a friend? To ask how life is going. To listen without rushing to the next thing.

Life is short, we know this, and still we forget. So if there is one intention I want to carry in 2026, it is to be more present.To walk beside the people I love, even when the weather turns, rather than watching them walk away from me.

I hope we remember to do that.

Again and again.