I Said Yes

 In late August 2007, Scott suggested we go on a river trip.  I had gone white-water rafting before, but never done a multi-day trip or gone on a trip without a guide.  Scott, on the other hand, was fluent in River.  He was a white-water rafting guide for several years, and raced on a downriver paddle boat team that ran class five rapids.  He loved being on the river.  He read the water better than anyone I have ever met, and he made hard moves look easy.  There was a standing rule on every trip: Don't follow Scott.  He took crazy runs through rapids and made it look effortless.  When others tried to follow his line, they either had to row like madmen to get through or they got in trouble.

There were 12 of us going on this trip.  Regulations require that river trips be pack-it-in, pack-it-out.  That includes all food, trash, and human waste.  In other words, we poop in a bucket and pack it out.

The trip was amazing, and from the first day, I was hooked.  Being in the wilderness for six days, camping on beaches at night under the stars, and swimming in the river to cool off, everything about it made me happy.  The six days flew by.  

We got home on Saturday evening.  Sunday morning, Scott asked if I wanted to go for a hike on one of our favorite trails.  We got dressed, loaded up in the truck, and headed out.  The hike was lovely, and we soon reached a high spot that overlooked the valley.  A fallen tree provided the perfect bench, so we both sat and admired the view.  My eyes scanned the valley as Scott pointed out landmarks.  I noticed he was suddenly quiet, so I turned my gaze from the valley to him.  There he was, on one knee, with a ring in his hand.  I hold his words from that day sacred, but clearly I said yes.  We laughed, hugged, laughed more.  

"When did you buy the ring?" I finally asked.

Scott hesitated.  "I bought it a while ago."

"Before the river trip?"

He smiled.  "Yeah, before the river trip."

I gazed at him and started laughing.  "You wanted to see if I liked the river trip!"

He laughed with me.  "I wanted to see if you could poop in a bucket."

We set a date: June 14, 2008.  But first, we got invited on another river trip.  This one was in May of 2008, and it was on the Colorado River in the Grand Canyon.  This was the trip of a lifetime.  The person who got the permit had been waiting for ten years to get drawn.  Word trickled through our boating friends that the permit-holder needed another gear boatman, and Scott was the perfect candidate.  He was thrilled to get the invite.  We had to go.  

14 days on the Colorado River, and every day was magical.  I fell in love over and over, with Scott, with the river, with the canyon, with the life that I saw us sharing together, with finally finding my One.  He was radiant as he navigated the monster rapids or rowed through the flat water, fully immersed in his element of River.  This was his happiest of happy places, and I had a front row seat to witness his ecstasy.

Night 12 on the river started out like any other night.  The group sat by the river, sharing stories about the day and talking about the upcoming rapids.  All at once, everyone got quiet.  One of the group members stood up and cleared his throat.  Scott and I looked at him, not sure what was happening.  He looked at us and smiled, then started talking about us, about Scott and me, about us together, about our relationship, how perfect we were for each other, how it was clear to everyone who saw us that we were meant to be together.  He told us the group wanted to give us a river wedding before our actual wedding, so we had a small, impromptu ceremony.  Scott and I laughed, shed some tears, laughed more, as did the rest of the group.  

After the short ceremony, another group member stood and approached us.  He had a towel draped over his forearm in an attempt to look formal, and Scott and I laughed and laughed as he escorted us to a small table high on a rocky ledge overlooking the river.  Unbeknownst to either Scott or me, the group had set up the table earlier in the evening, complete with a tablecloth, place settings, and two stainless steel wine glasses.  He proceeded to serve us wine, then dinner, then dessert, all while Scott and I stared at some of the most breathtaking scenery on the planet.  We ate, laughed, drank wine, laughed, ate more, and laughed more.  Neither of us could stop smiling.  We were giddy.

Eventually, dinner ended, and the wine ran out.  We made our way off the ledge, down to the group, and as we descended, the group stood and cheered.  Tears of happiness swelled in my eyes, jumped down my cheeks, as I grasped the hand of my soul mate.  He squeezed my hand in return, looked down at me, and smiled, the tears in his eyes mirroring mine.