Posted By admin on March 1, 2009

My Winter into Spring Love Story

Straight from the Heart

Once when I was in college I took a girlfriend up the shore of Lake Superior to a lodge for a romantic night during a cold winter.  Wrapped up on a rug next to the fireplace, we cuddled and nibbled on homemade cookies that she had decorated for our getaway.

Later, dozens of candles illuminated the water of the hot tub and our voices whispered softly for hours.  It was comfortable and cozy despite the frigid waves crashing out the front window, and looking into her eyes late that night I knew I loved her. 

Now, even though we don’t date anymore, I still love her.  And regardless if she shares this sentiment, I probably always will.  We went our own way (one to a cabin—one to a city) for agreeable reasons and I still believe we made the right decision. 

What I am left with is a meaningful connection with someone special that was nurtured during a season when the mercury hangs low.

And so I give you my winter love story. 

It isn’t told in despair about the one that got away nor anxiously about the one that is still out there.  Instead it comes from my understanding and belief of how to embrace love and those we share it with.

Now years later I choose to think about her infectious smile, exciting energy and beautiful spirit, instead of the frustrations.  It is these characteristics along with my overwhelmingly positive experiences with her that stick to the surface of my memory. 

The value in my relationship with her is in what she brought out of me and what I learned about myself, also the fact that for that portion of our lives, we had fun.  We tried to make the most and were rewarded with growth and appreciation.  

Like when we went to watch the sunrise once just after New Years.  I love the woman who made it special with me but I also love what we made out of a bitterly cold and windy morning standing on ice covered rocks, thawing our lips with the steam from a mug of hot cocoa.

I still think about her occasionally, despite our distance.  I remind myself that what has transpired is right.  And maybe I believe that.  Sometimes I’m not sure because I have a hard time telling the difference between a lonely night on The Mountain and the honest truth. 

The winter season can be so unforgiving and heartless, but if willing and able to recognize it, the beauty of landscapes and relationships can be the fulfillment of life.  The love in our lives is rooted in the experiences we share with those who mean the most to us.

Hold them extra close, whether they are friends, family, or a significant other.  And no matter what the future brings, you’ll always share that adoration.

If winter has taught me anything, it is this: a pasta dinner tastes best after breathing hard in the wintry air, a white forest on a clear and cold night is an excellent foundation for dreaming, and that the love in your life is warmer the colder it is outside.

I may tuck into a cabin on the flanks of Mount Hood by myself, but I am a young man rich with love from the people and places I have shared below freezing temperatures with.  And as long as I can continue to see that, I will be living my winter love story until the whiter snow banks call my name.

I don’t regret much in my life, and certainly not the relationship she and I had.  I think what we had enriched both of our lives, and that night at the lodge was a memorable part of it.  After convincing her to leap with me from that soothing hot tub into what I assumed was powdery snow- but in fact was coated with an icy crust- she might feel otherwise.  But I doubt it.

By Lucas Will

Categories: Mt Hood Recreation
Tags: holiday, oregon, snowshoeing