Twenty years ago (1988) today, September 24 we started dating. And we never looked back. We met on the second day of college on the campus of UNR with Billy who I grew up with ski racing. He liked you. I poached on that. Sorry Billy. You were the sooper hot Italian Vegas chic who could ride a motorcycle better than most of the boys. I was a punk skier from Crested Butte who wasn’t entirely sure he wanted to be in college healing up a blown ACL/MCL/meniscus. Every football player on the athlete’s floor in Nye hall wanted to date you and were pissed that you hung out with a scrawny Knoxed bleached hair computer geek. Your parent’s were concerned about you. I was concerned about your Italian family with names like ‘Uncle Frankie, Uncle Mikey and Uncle Babe giving me the shake-down. I survived, even though you nearly drowned me knocking me out cold on a waverunner on Lake Mead and then sticking me in 110 degree heat ’till I got a heat stroke.
We met a lot of people that September of 1988. From the UNR Ski Team, we met Martin. In 1995, we became partners…and in many ways my second wife ever since LOL. Still partners. I ran into a juvenile-delinquent friend of mine from Colorado ski racing circuit in Nye Hall. Dylan! He was with Matt whom he went to GMVS with. Matt. We started going to Matt’s Mom’s house and we hung out with Justin. Matt and I tried to start a ska band and failed. He hooked up with your brother Kenny and the Mudsharks were born. We met Johnny via the Ski Team. I introduced him to your sister at the Tour de Nez party in 1997 coming back from Jim and my bachelor party in the BlackRock desert where we rolled/totaled Martin’s truck. Nobody got hurt. You rolled with it as usual. Johnny started dating your sister, they got married and now he’s my brother in law and they’ve got Otto who’s a nut just like Cody and they’ll certainly be best friends for life shredding everything they do together. Everyone owes me BIG for that introduction. Never forget it.
I met Lanbone who had a crush on your highschool best friend and we met in September. It’s good to have a doctor in the house. Jim went to highschool with you and your sister. He’s up the street too, married to his HS sweetheart. And Matt and Jim’s kids are our kids best friends. If they all end up friends in 20 years it’ll be a pretty cool stroy arc. And if I listed all the friends we made in September, in 1988, in college, it’d take me forever to write this. We made a lot of friends. A lot are seemingly entering the life-long category.
Fifteen years ago (1993) I graduated from UNR and was all set to go to law school. I went climbing in Yosemite with Matt and decided to not go to law school to stay to hang with you. And climb and fly and camp and ride some more. I got a job at Fitzgeralds Gaming group and started to pay off all those student loans I blew on climbing, skiing, paragliding and biking gear that fueled our time together. You started your last year of civil engineering school. We skied Randonee in the Galena bowls every weekend (and then some) on Ramer classics and helped name the runs. I bought you a new Pieps avvy beacon. We still use those beacons. Maybe we should get new beacons for Christmas? My mom died. We got a cat from Billy BadBones and named him Makita. Named him after the drill I used to make that climbing wall in the back of the house. I got a cell phone so we could go climbing on weekends when I was on call for PR emergencies. Ended up at the Beer Barrel and ran into Martin and we started talking about Mozilla and HTML and a business was born a ‘couple years later.
Eleven year ago (1997) we got married in Incline village and no one got arrested but the party got a “little” out of control. The Young Dubliners played the wedding. Dozens of people crashed our party. Over 200 people ended up with severe hangovers, people passed out in planters and in beaches and cars everywhere. We took our gift money and cruised the shoreline of northern California to mid-Oregon and back camping, climbing, fishing and riding bikes. Ate fresh oysters and crab in Shasta. Best honeymoon ever. We bought our first car that was new and had a warranty. You had my Caddy towed away.
Ten years ago (1998): I made you this video. My father died. We celebrated our first year being married. We partied like it was 1999 for the last time. We went to Burning Man. We threw huge block parties at our new California street house. We have lots of photos of people wearing dresses. We weren’t as broke as we were. Aztech started making money and I think we got our sushi on again. Matt and Melissa got married and somehow nobody got hurt. I did get hurt at the X-Games in Crested Butte saucer-crossing and ended up with a lot of stitches in my face. ESPN played it on TV for two years and you weren’t so proud when people called to say I was on TV bleeding. Good times. Blame Martin and Matt. Not me.
Nine years ago (1999): We had an ‘oops’ late New Year’s Eve in Crested Butte…nine months later Logan was born with the legs and lungs of a kid conceived on the wildest night of the century at 9,500 ft. and now loves the snow and the cold as much as his Dad. You worked until the day before you had Logan. You solo-climbed Matterhorn Peak eight-months pregnant in a day. While I was helicopter skiing in the Rubies with Adam you went and bought us a house in the coolest neighborhood in Reno that most of our best friends now live in. It was 850 sq.ft. and had a garage to hold all our toys. You’ve always been the CEO of the house. I hung up the paraglider and we bought a stroller that we could hike with. We went car-camping which was strange but we quickly adjusted to having lots food to camp with. I learned how to cast a fly-rod with Logan in a backpack and not hook him in the back of the head with a #14 Timco. You dropped your career as a civil engineer for full-time Momhood. A lot of your friends give you grief for not working, but I don’t. Our kids kick ass because of it. We may not be able to afford a lot of nice furniture and other useless stuff for the house because of that, but who cares about furniture when you’re never home. We’re bag people. Always on the go.
Seven years ago (2001): You were pregnant with Cody. His hyperactive impatience began at month seven when you went into pre-term labor. For the first of like 19 times we made trips to the ER. You’re Mom moved in with us while you spent seven weeks on the couch all drugged up to keep the little snot baking long enough to come out in good form. Logan started to ski. With your Mom, a dog, a cat and Logan starting to terrorize the house, we decided we needed a bigger house. I decided I needed a bigger business.
Six years ago (2002): Cody was born. Twelve Horses began to run. We started to design an addition to our house. I spent a lot of time on airplanes and in airports. Still do. We started to go to the Balloon Races which I’m still trying to come to grips with. TommyV was killed in an accident and I realized our kids needed to spend a lot of time in Crested Butte. Our gear moved from the living room to the garage and basement like most people and it seemed really strange.
Four years ago (2004): Logan started finished pre-school. We moved out of the house while Johnny and Kenny built our new home. We survived the last time we ever do that again. Our average helmet per family member went to 2. With cousins Aden and Otto, kids and dirty diapers were everywhere and everything was sticky. Logan began to ski well. Cody began to ski. Neve died.They both began to bounce…and bounce…and bounce…will they ever stop BOUNCING!? We got a trampoline…with a net. Great idea that was…it was yours. We spent our winter at Mt. Rose.
Two years ago (2006): Logan started first grade and his second year of ski team. Cody started his first year of ski team and we bought more helmets and bikes and skis. You watched me hurt myself trying to learn how to ride rails. You ran a half-marathon. We spent two weeks in Crested Butte in the summer and we dusted off the climbing gear. We started to ditch the LoganCody and go for bike rides.We camped. A lot. We started made our second annual flyfishing trips to the Fall River with Lanny, Tim and Matt and others and that’s been our annual get-away from the kids.
One years ago (2007): Justin came back to Reno to shoot a video for a Modest Mouse ‘Little Motel’ song with Cody starring as a dead kid and we missed our first Memorial Day weekend camping trip for as long as we can remember. That was an odd and fun experience. Darin lost the fight to brain cancer and left Melissa and Max and Hudson behind. Logan was in second grade and Cody became a Kindergartner. Makita died. We started BMX racing and our helmet count went to 15. You won your first BMX race. Our gear started living in the house again. We spent 3 weeks in Crested Butte. We’ve still got the same furniture, but all new skis and some new bikes and we spent a killer winter living in Alpine Meadows.
Now: Now we start another 20…30..? Even if it’s half as fun as the last 20, it’ll be twice than most. Nothing’s really changed. We’re still pretty much the same we were twenty years ago, with pretty much the same friends — and a whole lot more, doing the same things we’ve always done…with two booger-eating kids…and I’m the luckiest guy.
