They were wanderers, moving through life with reckless abandon, both focused on dreams of creating and exploring the wild world around them. From the east coast to the Rocky Mountains they had found themselves on parallel but divergent paths that had landed them in a small brew pub in Boulder, Colorado, toiling away to pay the rent and fuel their passions.

It wasn't love at first sight, per se, but they were immediately drawn to each other, sharing late night pizzas and terrible pasta after long shifts at the restaurant. Then one fateful day in a damp and dirty dish-pit, a hopeless place if you will, the blue eyed beauty looked to the brown haired heathen and asked a simple question. An invitation. "Wanna go see a brass band with me tonight?" The boy had misheard. Believing she had said "grass band" and thinking he would be hearing some heady bluegrass, he gladly accepted. Spoiler...It was not bluegrass. Instead they lost themselves in a torrent of hardcore funk, saxophones and horns blaring wildly into the night. As he watched her twirl and dance around the venue, he could feel his heart strings tighten, a deep longing to learn all there was to learn about her. At that point he was glad for his terrible hearing, glad he had blindly accepted this invite from a girl he hardly knew.

That fateful night marked the beginning of something beautiful. A love that grew and blossomed like the wildflowers where they frolicked. She taught him patience and self control, he taught her to snowboard and love spicy food. She took what she wanted and didn't let anything hold her back, he gladly followed, blindly accepting any invitation she threw his way. From house to house they made their homes, from town to town they made everlasting memories.

It was a warm fall day in Leadville, Colorado, sitting in the shade of a quaking aspen grove, where, never one to wait for procrastinating boys, Samantha again extended an invitation that would change my life forever. With a ring made of deer antler and a heartfelt note she sealed our fates. The best you might say, is yet to come!

-M.S

Thank you so much for your thoughtful gift! Love, Max and Sam