MY STORY

On January 20th 2010 I departed for my Colorado adventure. Final destination is Telluride, CO. My previous employer closed our Boston office on October 31, 2009 and this seemed to be the most opportune time to do something different. My inspirations are two things really. They are both movies. First is "Into the Wild", a movie about a person who leaves his life behind to pursue a life in the Alaskan wilderness and along the way he meets people that shape his life. The second movie is "The Bucket List", a movie about two terminally ill men who escape a cancer ward with a wish list of to-do's before they die. The #1 item on the wish list is "Witness something truly majestic". My adventures are not exactly similar to these movies, but underlying themes and life changing perspectives are. As far as the location, I thank my sister for that. She lived in the beautiful & remote town of Telluride for five years and met Paul there. Their 1997 wedding was in Telluride (Trout Lake). Telluride is nestled in the dramatic Rocky Mountains of Southwest Colorado.

BLOG 101

If you are new to blogs so am I. Here is an intro. The home page http://mycoloradoadventure.blogspot.com/ has all the posts (the write ups) in order and they work so that most recent is at top of the order. i.e. Day 1, my first post/write-up, is on the bottom page of all the posts/write-ups. On the left side of the blog site there is a "Blog Archive" section where you can navigate to pick and choose year, month and then specific daily posts/write-ups. I wanted to share this in the event you are new to blogs.

Wednesday, March 3, 2010

Day 43 - 3/3/10 - Small World















"Some people come into our lives and quickly go. Some stay for a while, leave footprints on our hearts, and we are never, ever the same." ~Flavia Weedn

Today is Wednesday March 3rd 2010. It's always nice to spend time with friends. At one point you can be spending weekends with groups of friends, going out, hanging out, carrying conversation and creating memories. Then, without any timeline, plan or fall out, life can suddenly create distance between friends. Most of the time it has to do with having children and growing older. But the comfort in friendships is that time can never change the bond you create from the past.

Let me introduce you to this GREAT family and then I will tell you the "small world" story of my day. In the above picture (left) please meet the Keis family. If you click on the picture it should enlarge. Seniority rules in my world so to the far right is Ed Keis. He is the father, father-in-law and grandfather. A warm-hearted and sincere person it was a pleasure getting to visit with him. To Ed's left is his son Matt. Matt and I worked together at Arthur Andersen and coached soccer together for FC Greater Boston. We've had many great times together. Like his father, his sincerity and kindness shines all the time and he is a good friend. To Matt's left is his SUPER wife Rachel. Rachel and I met many years ago through Matt. She is a nurse and she has too many great qualities to list. I'm not joking. I attended Matt and Rachel's wedding in Gloucester, MA. I love their "story" and even in my short time with them here in Telluride, I respect them on so many levels. To Rachel's left is Nicole. Nicole is from Australia and she was the nanny of the Keis children. I said 'was' because she recently had to move to Florida, but because the family appreciated her so much they asked her to do this trip with them. Not surprising, Nicole fit right into the Keis family equation of kind and caring personalities. And last but not least are the two children, Liam and McKenzie. McKenzie eventually warmed up to me and we were able to get the nice picture above on the right. They are both very cute kids (with Rachel's red hair!) and just to be around the family was a welcome change to my adventure. The pictures are from a dinner (thank you Matt!) at a great spot in Telluride named Excelsior. Italian restaurant and ironically one of my sister Jenn's favorites when she lived here in the late 90's.

So how did we all meet up? Cool story. Today I worked. I was at a standard photographer location at the top of one of the mountain lifts. I was actually with the owner of the company, Bob, who was in town from his other Elevation Imaging location in Jackson Hole, WY. I was about 20 yards from the lift, chatting with people about getting pictures taken when someone yelled "Nick". I turned mostly thinking there was another Nick in the area. But two gentlemen were 15 yards or so away and looking right toward Bob and I. I gave a solid look, I quickly assessed, and I yelled "Matty". It was Matt and his father Ed, enjoying a sunny afternoon on the mountain. We had a great conversation. They told me how Matt and Rachel surprised Ed for his birthday with a heli-skiing trip. Side note - That is one of the BEST gifts ever given! The Keis family was spending a week in Telluride and they are familiar with it as they have been here several times before, including a year long stay by Matt in the late 90's. We then made plans for dinner that night. Dinner was enjoyment of food, wine and conversation. Little Liam and McKenzie were constant entertainment and I was just happy to be around the kindness of their family. For me in my journeys thus far, seeing the familiar faces of friends I respect so much was refreshing. I appreciate the time I had with the Keis family and to Matt and Rachel...you are two of the finest people I know. Even though our time is few and far between you have left a footprint with me and I know that footprint will always keep us in touch.

Thanks for checking in and good night from Telluride.
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