TODAY WAS THE DAY...

The views from Loveland Pass in Colorado are simply mesmerizing. On a clear day you can see some of Colorado's and the Nation's most spectacular peaks and valleys. Loveland Pass sits on top of the continental divide, which for those of you who do not know, "divides" the water sheds here in the United States of America. All snow and rain that falls on the east side of the divide eventually rolls to the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean via the Mississippi River once it gets there. To the contrary, all snow and rain which falls on the west side of this "divide", eventually makes it's way to the Pacific Ocean via the Colorado River should it be lucky enough to avoid all the irrigation and human needs along the way.

My father was a good man, he, unlike myself, really had no enemies during his lifetime. He was a simple man who lived a fairly simple life, who got dealt a bad hand in life health wise when he had to battle a brain tumor at the ripe old age of 40. He won that battle for an additional 29 years of life, but it left him scarred and unable to live at the level he would have preferred for those 29 years. He was a really funny guy, and I loved him, a lot. He really liked to fish, and taught me how to.

When my father passed some dozen plus a couple of years ago when I was 39 years old, I had just spent the entire winter in South Florida to be closer to him as his health had become fragile. Upon hearing the news from my mother that he had taken a turn for the worse and was on life support, I told my mother I would fly right home. Her response to me was to stay put as my brother and sister were already there. She told me to simply remember him the way he was when I left to come back to Colorado after the previous winter. This is what I then chose to do. When the call came one evening just a couple of days later that he had been taken off life support as he had wished, it was a tough day, but also a relief, as to know such a difficult struggle is over brings peace, and time heals our wounds and makes us better, we must take the good, and I have.

My father's ashes were split amongst those who wanted. I had carried some of my father's ashes for all this time until today. And it was a very good day. I spent the day with my girlfriend Jennifer at Arapahoe Basin teaching her how to ski, and she learned some, and we had so much fun. I'm moving to Longmont, Colorado to be with her, and I'm excited for the change. When we left Arapahoe Basin today, Jennifer had to head back to Longmont and I had to come back to Eagle for several reasons. I chose to come back over Loveland Pass, in a raging wind and blowing snow day which was spectacular on the Divide. Many years ago when my father was in better physical shape, he came to visit me in Colorado with my mother, and he stood on top of Loveland Pass and was in great wonderment of the views and grandeur.  We stood there together, and I pointed out all the peaks and bowls still covered with snow in late May, and explained to him how myself and friends would strap our skis on our backpacks and sometimes walk for hours to go ski some of the off piste and incredibly beautiful terrain he was looking at. 

Today I stopped on the top of the Divide on my way back to Eagle, explained to Jennifer what I needed to do, and walked about a half mile in incredible wind and blowing snow along the east ridge line of the Divide. This is where my father's journey now begins, half on the east side, and half on the west side, and the views are still the same, and the journey will be grand. Rest in Peace Dad, with your luck you will end up in a fountain in Vegas.