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Over the last ten years Steve Fugate walked almost 22,000 miles, and did it all with a sign over his head saying, simply, "Love Life."
This is the story of Steve and those 22,000 miles. Of how it began, where it’s taken him, and the people whose lives he has touched along the way.
In 1999 Steve Fugate lost his son, Stephen "Stevie" Lee Fugate, to suicide. Steve was half way done with a "thru-hike" of the Appalachian Trail (a 2,167 mile long trail that runs from Georgia to Maine) when he heard the news. Steve returned home to Vero Beach, Florida to bury his son. His grief was overwhelming and it soon became apparent to Steve that he needed to do something to prove to himself that he could still function as a human being. His son had wanted to hike the Appalachian trail, with him, the following year, so it seemed like a fitting memorial for Steve to finish his current "thru-hike."
Along the way Steve realized that he could help other people too. "It sounded crazy," he said, but he knew he had to do it. He created a sign that read "LOVE LIFE", fastened it over his head, and decided to walk across the United States. He would tell the story of his son, and teach those he met to Love Life. If he could help it, no other person would give in to despair the way his son did.
We will follow Steve as he completes his "Shelly Walk," a corner to corner hike of the United States in honor of his daughter Michele "Shelly" Fugate Morgan, an M.S. sufferer who died of an accidental drug over dose in 2005. Steve writes, “Again, my life seemed to be ended. Yet again I faced the horror! The answer was right there over my own head, I had to push on and.. LOVE LIFE"
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