We had been climbing for what seemed like hours, although it was probably only two.
You couldn’t call it a trail as there was no trail to follow. We were following a guide. A local man dressed in shorts that hung below his knees, a solid green polo shirt, and a pair of Crocs.
The Crocs wouldn’t have seemed so out of place had we not been following a river up the side of a mountain. This man, deftly walking along as if he were simply strolling down a sidewalk, was guiding us through conditions the creators of Crocs had never dreamt their shoes (if you can call them shoes) could tackle.
Because this was no sidewalk. This was a river bed full of boulders; huge, callous, rocks the size of cars and we were required to climb over, around, and between them as we ascended this mountain.
On either side of the river was a lush, thick rainforest that was impassable and full of countless unknown creatures.
I had come well enough prepared for the river with a pair of trail shoes that had tacky soles and purposefully shed water. They were shoes designed specifically for this type of terrain and I was enjoying every minute of it.
But she had not. She was wearing a pair of running shoes with socks and every time we crossed the river from one side to the other (which we had to do no less than one hundred times) the journey became increasingly more difficult for her.
She tried going without the shoes, but the rough stones and debris made it impossible. So she carried on and kept a smile on her face the entire time, which was why I loved her.
Aside from the water logged shoes, she was wearing a tight fitting tank top and the same shorts she was wearing the first time I laid eyes on her...
It was mid-summer one year earlier and also the opening day of a new, outdoor tiki-bar in my hometown. Many of my friends were working there and I wasn’t about to miss the first day.
When I arrived the bar was full, so I seated myself at a table and was shortly thereafter approached by her.
Her shorts weren’t too short, but they were just short enough to make her legs look like they reached the sky. Her hair was pulled back in a pony tail and she walked with a lightness and flow that I have never gotten over. It’s mesmerizing, as if the world is hers and we’re just here to observe what she’ll do next.
She was friendly, and courteous, and had a glistening smile that could not be overlooked. It was the kind of smile that produced a twinkle in her as eyes and made your stomach do a flip. If it’s not too cliche, I’d say I fell in love with her at that moment. But, I was married at the time and our story ended there.
Time would pass, situations would change and we would eventually find ourselves single at the same time. And then 6 months later we were climbing a mountain.
We continued to follow our guide up that treacherous trail known only to him until we reached a series of waterfalls and archways. It was our destination and it was most certainly worth the climb.
Our guide let us explore on our own, so we made our way up the steep cliff to the top of the highest waterfall. The guide told us about a lagoon at the top and we knew we had to see it.
This lagoon; at the top of a waterfall, in the middle of a rain forest, on the side of a mountain, was one of the most remote places in the Dominican Republic...so we stripped off our clothes and swam free in that cold mountain water without a care in the world.
As she swam in the crystal clear lagoon I could see the delicate fern leaf I had tattooed on her delicate shoulder. It was a reminder to her of her grandmother and it was a reminder to me of the first full day we spent together.
It was an unplanned day of getting to know one another, but one day turned into two, which turned into a week, and then all of a sudden it had been well over a year.
Those days and weeks contained so many adventures. We travelled to Madrid and Dublin; New York City and Mackinac Island. We saw countless concerts, musicals, and plays. I taught her to skateboard and snowboard and she took me to my first prom. We shared moments with our families and friends and brought the most wonderful dog imaginable into our lives. But most importantly, we became friends.
At some point during those adventures I allowed her to tattoo me. It was a small and simple tattoo, a line-work diamond, and she had absolutely no idea what she was doing.
It was actually a dare. I dared her that she wouldn’t do it, and she dared me that I wouldn’t let her. She won that bet (I had to sing karaoke for her) despite the fact that she was scared to death. But, as it is with everything she does, she did it with a smile and knocked it out of the park.
I’ve had several meaningful relationships in my life so far, but none of them have been so full of living as was mine with her.
She had a different life to live though and relocated to a new city. But, the time we shared created an unbreakable bond between us. As forgiving as a fern, but as solid as a diamond, our friendship will outlast our tattoos.