The week after Craig got home from Argentina he and Dave and Lynn took me skiing for my first time. When we got there Craig helped me suit up and then took me to the bunny slopes. I was totally intimidated by all the 3 yr olds cruising around, but luckily gravity did its thing and going down was pretty easy. After doing the bunny hill three times Craig decided it was time for me to take on the big mountain. He said: Jumping in is the only way to learn! And he looked so earnest that I decided to go along.
When we got to the top and I looked down for the first time I thought certainly I would die that day. No one had taught me how to stop! As we started going down the hill, I'd go until I was going too fast to control my direction, and then I would just fall over on purpose and everything would go flying-- me, my poles, my skis... and there I was spread out all over the mountain. Two seconds later there would be Craig, fetching my poles, picking me up, wiping snow out of my eyes, and telling me what a great job I was doing-- only to repeat the whole process about twenty seconds of skiing later. Towards the bottom I would go hurtling away to the end and there I'd wait for Craig to catch me, coming down gracefully.
As we rode the lift together, I was surprised how little it mattered he had spent the last two years on another continent with another language and I was contemplating a Ph.D. in Boston, it was so natural to be spending time with him. We went down the mountain four more times, each time the same. I never did learn how to stop and poor Craig didn't get a single good run in himself but he never complained.
He took genuine pleasure in helping and encouraging me... and he did get a good work out. On the way home, we stopped and bought bread and cheese and sausage and ate it in big hunks using a penknife and our hands-- which was surprisingly satisfying. What a happy lovely day with the Decker boys. I'd do anything for the first time with Craig beside me-- pushing me along before telling me how to stop.
--Reija Matheson
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