I met my wife while we were both ski instructors at Wintergreen Resort in Virginia. We were young, single and living the dream. I remember strolling into the “boot room” after a beginners class my first year there and seeing this gorgeous brunette talking to one of her friends and completely ignoring me. That was pretty hard to do, considering I was obnoxious with and no noticeable governor on my mouth. Needless to say, my less than charming advances were getting me nowhere. My hallmark back then was what came up – came out. Amanda would later tell me she loved pulling out her extra long hat pin to pop my ego … just for fun. After a while, we became close friends, eventually got married and had a child. But there was that special moment that happens to some of us during a courtship – that moment when you consider “Am I actually falling for this person?”
Moment of Impact
Ironically this part of the story takes place on a weekend close to Valentine ’s Day. It was after a brutally long day of teaching beginners; picking them up, helping them off the snow and onto the ski lift then running back to “line up” for the next round of students for 7 or 8 hours straight. Now it was 9:00PM on a Saturday night and we were at the bar! All of us in the ski school were very tight; we even had nicknames like Rhino, Sylvester, Fabio, Andy Capp, Quwazi, Diamond Dave, and Lurch, just to name a few. We were thick as thieves; there was a band playing that night and the drinks they-were-a-flowing. Something spectacular was bound to happen.
Amanda was ordering a drink and Steve the bartender thought it would be fun to ask for her ID. After he looked at it, he stretched his hand out to return it to its owner. At that moment I snatched it out of his hand. Amanda seemed immediately perplexed. “What are you doing?” she asked me. “I want to check on something,” I responded. “Hmmm, I thought so.” I then muttered something under my breath. “WHAT?” she shouted at me. “It says here you’re a buck 35”, I said with a smug look. “Give me that, right now!” she demanded. We looked like a pair of flailing drunken wombats as I was tiring to keep the plastic license away from her. Finally she was able to pluck her ID out of my hand and began to franticly look on the card. Her eyes narrowed as she irritatingly snarled, “How did you guess my weight correctly…it’s not printed on this card
WARNINIG: Do not attempt the following in any way shape or form. It will result in bodily harm and or lasting psychological damage!
What flew out of my mouth was the result of “flirting” gone horribly wrong and was fueled by a toxic blend of booze with a healthy splash of “idiot” thrown in.
“I underestimated?”
Yes, I actually said that! I know, I know “What was I thinking!” Unfortunately, I wasn’t and I always regretted saying that…kinda. Keep reading and you’ll see why.
C-R-A-C-K!!! The room started to spin a bit as I noticed the view going from the bar to the ceiling… I was on my back and the side of my whole head was aching. Amanda had hit me in the face so hard she not only knocked me off of the stool, she also spun me around causing me to fall into a pile on the floor. The whole bar fell silent and a crowd of people stood over me. Then a roar of laughter came up from the room as I said rather proudly, “I think I’m in love.” One comment afterwards stood out in my mind and still does. It was made by a good friend of mine Ty Johnson. He said simply, “I’ll be at your wedding.”
And On April Fool’s Day 2000, he was!
I share this story in the hopes it made you laugh but also my intention is that it might help you think back to the time you first fell head over heels (literally in my case) in love. It’s even better if that person happens to be your significant other. It’s all too easy to forget these great moments. It can happen to the best of us; work becomes overwhelming, the kids demand all of your time, and life has just run away from you. This Valentine’s Day, if you are fortunate enough to spend it with a significant other, leave work at work, get a sitter if you have kids and have some time alone with the love of your life. If you don’t have a significant other, spend it with someone important in your life. Either way, slow down, share stories, enjoy each other’s company, and remember to bring joy, laughter, and passion to your conversations. It’s better than just flowers… I guarantee it.
I dedicate this article to my wife of almost 14 years, Amanda. Thank you for slapping the crap out of me, I’ll always love you for it!
