On Saturday’s we ski. It’s the best day of the week, partly because Kevin is with us, partly because we’re all together and mostly because we are outside having fun all day!

 

Yesterday Kevin and I were together, and he had to stop because hydration. So I did a lap by myself while I was waiting for him. When I got to the ski lift line, I noticed someone approaching the chair was riding solo so I asked, “are you a single, do you mind if I ride with you.” This is always very awkward for me if the person is a man. I feel like I’m going out of my way to be clear that I am trying to be lift- efficient; not cute, not courgar-ish. It being called the “singles line” and has always felt a little strange to me, which is ridiculous as it’s merely a function to keep the lines moving. But alas here I am, a married woman- who happens at this moment to be alone, asking another man something about being single. It’s a real Tina Fey/ 30 Rock moment if you can imagine.

 

So in this particular singles inquiry, the gentleman boisterously answers, “Yes! You brought coffee, right!” I immediately thought to myself, “thank God, it’s a silly old man. Safe from any rando creeper!” Then the man asks if I can give him some ski tips on the ride up because I look like a pretty good skier (oh, no! I was wrong, he is a old man creeper!) to which I responded, “I’m afraid then that the looks of a good skier are all I actually have.” Deflect, deflect, deflect.

 

The rest of the ride went a little like this:

He said, “I’m going to end my day on SUCCESS {a easy green ski run} because I like to end with a WIN!”

[Yes, he is speaking my language!]

He then shared some parenting unsolicited wisdom with me that went a little something like this:

“We loved our children so much and wanted them to have a happy life. We had to give them space so they could discover and journey along. Now they are parents and doing really incredible things and it feels like we might have done things right by them.”

[I was so struck. Giving my children appropriate space is my cross to bear and I’m working hard on it EVERY DAY. He was like a little soothsayer on the lift.]

I told him I appreciated him sharing that with me and he continued by saying:

“I was the CEO of a company in California and I always asked the people working for me how I was doing. They had a different perspective than I did and I wanted to hear their opinions. They would also be the people eventually running the company so it was important to hear their voices.”

 

Then the ski lift ended and off he skied.  But I knew where he was going with the CEO story. He didn’t need to connect the dots for me between his job as a parent and his CEO job. I love that idea of checking in with the kids and listening to what they have to say about the job I’m doing as their mom. My youngest two will likely say something about too many baths and not enough ice cream. But I’m most eager to hear what my middle schooler will say. I haven’t asked him yet- I have to find time to ask them individually so they don’t think it’s time to roast me! But that man on the lift was utterly delightful and gave me a lot to think about.

 

Oh and at some point in our lift ride together he also reminded me of something I needed reminding of, “It’s important to always be moving toward things rather than away from things.” Seriously. I was just thinking about that very notion earlier in the day. Weird.

 

Do these things ever happen to you? A perfect stranger professing poignant points that absolutely speak to your heart and leave you wondering how on earth they could have known that you needed to hear that? I feel like it happens to me pretty frequently…weird.

 

I skied down to the spot where I’d left Kevin and he happened to be talking to this man with two of the most magnificent dogs in the world! St. Bernard’s! Two of them! Rolling around in the snow! AH! [Something to note about me: I cannot just walk by a dog. I try, I really do. But they pull me in with their amazing doggo vibes and these St. Bernard’s were like perfect cartoon St. Bernard’s!] Their paws, HUGE! Their heads, HUGE! And they couldn’t have been sweeter! I stood there (on skis) gushing to the man about his dogs and he was giggling because before I skied up, Kevin had warned him that I would go crazy once I saw his dogs. Seeing those glorious beasts made me down right giddy!

 

What a fun little moment! A sunny Saturday skiing with a wise- cracking (heavier on the wise part) lift buddy and playing with two St. Bernard’s in the snow. Both gave my spirit such a boost. With a giant grin I asked Kevin, “what kind of day is this anyway?!” to which he perfectly proposed, “it’s a Park City Day.”

 

Perfectly Park City in every way.