From Romance to Family in the Snow

My husband and I had only been dating a few weeks when we went away skiing together. The tiny rental car propelled us from the muddy snowbanks of the New York highways to the pristine Vermont snowscape sprinkled with picturesque red barns. Somewhere along the way, we became a couple.

We love to settle marital disputes on the Nastar Race Track.

I was a bundle of nerves during the ride up, but not about our blossoming relationship. I was terrified to ski. My childhood skiing memories were filled with the harsh sounds of skis skidding on hidden ice, painfully frozen fingertips, and the thudding of my heart from fear. But the next day, at the rental shop, Steve convinced me to rent smaller skis, and they transformed my skiing experience. Suddenly I was in control, able to go fast and stop when I chose, feeling the wind in my hair and the sun on my face instead of the terror in my chest.

My form is looking a little stiff. 

We enjoyed two more romantic weekends in Vermont that winter and spring, and skiing became our thing. We learned so much about each other as Steve challenged me to move beyond greens and blues and make my way down giant mogul mounds and steep slopes. Off the slopes, we discovered that we also shared a passion for food, whether it was romantic dinners at snowy Vermont inns or gigantic breakfasts of bacon, eggs, and pancakes with real Vermont maple syrup.

Steve taking a strong lead. It's about playing, not winning, right?

We've kept our skiing tradition, heading out to Colorado and Utah every winter to conquer new bowls and remember that first winter together when our love blossomed in the snow. Until this year, we left the kids behind, to better pretend to be a young couple alone.

But this year, we decided that it was time to share our tradition with the kids. Their skiing was good enough to make the trip out West worthwhile. I was nervous about giving up our time together, about turning our treasured tradition into something different, something too focused on the kids. But I shouldn't have worried.

Jack and Bella eager to get going down the mountain.

Overnight, our treasured couple tradition became a family tradition. Jack and Bella were racing down the mountain on their first run, marveling at how high they were in the sky, and racing. Juliette went right along with the family, snowplowing between Steve's legs and telling him, "Faster Daddy! Faster!"

But every afternoon, the kids went home to a babysitter, and Steve and I raced around the mountain alone again, enjoying our romance in the snow.

Happy Wordful, Five Minutes Wordless, and Way-back wednesday.