Sitting in a hotel room in St. Louis...missing my family.
I’ve known Erica for almost 20 years. One of my first memories of her was when she literally gave me the shirt off her back.
Almost 15 years ago Erica asked me to ride with her on the Slickrock mountain bike trail in Moab, UT. Accustomed to the buttery-smooth, flowing single track trails surrounding Park City, the unforgiving sandstone and steep grades were intimidating and frightening to her this first time on Slickrock. During the ride, I watched her progress from slowly creeping down the hills, tense and white knuckled, and having to push her bike up the next incline to slowly allowing the bike to roll down with increasing speed, and her ability to climb the next grade increased. Over the course of two hours, I watched as her confidence grew to where she would descend with enough speed to allow momentum to carry her much of the way up the next hill. We were just friends at the time but I was so impressed by her courage to overcome the obvious fear she was feeling and her drive to master the trail before her.
Almost 14 years ago I was following Erica when I jumped off a 30-foot cliff after her into a small, shallow pool of water in a slot canyon somewhere outside Moab, UT. Thus began our promise to each other; “I go where you go.” It wasn't long after that I made the smartest jump of my life and “wifed” her.
I’ve watched my wife take another amazing ride over the last three years as she began a journey much like her first ride on Slickrock. A bit apprehensive but totally committed, she slowly started a fitness journey that was at times overwhelming and intimidating. As she has progressed I’ve seen the confidence grow with each new success. She realized a life-long dream of competing in a fitness show, she has started her own business, she is a health consultant to a health-supplement company. Just as she learned to use speed and momentum on the Slickrock trail, she has learned to build upon each success and has come to rely on the “momentum” of the many wonderful friends she has met along the way.
We’ve been married now almost 13 years but I am more and more amazed by this woman - by her courage, her drive, and her commitment to anything she sets her mind to. She has faced many challenges in her life but she has never used them as an excuse.
What is most amazing is that with each challenge overcome and each bit of success achieved, her desire to reach out to others has increased. She feels she has been greatly blessed and feels a responsibility pay it forward and pay it back those who have placed so much trust in her and shown her so much love and support. I guess I shouldn’t be all that amazed. After all, she once gave me the shirt off her back...
My wife by the numbers…
5... decades
4... children
3... degrees
2… x adopted
1...title of Mrs. Colorado America
I love you Bear!
One proud husband
