I met Laurie at a Hanukkah party in Fort Collins, Colorado, a small town that had almost no other single Jews my age. Our mutual friend hosting the party later confessed that she’d set us up but didn’t tell us; at the time, we were clueless. Our first conversation led to our first date—on snowshoes! We got engaged eight months later. Laurie suggested the hike on snowshoes. It was the first time for both of us, which in hindsight made it a perfect first date because we were both trying something new on multiple levels and stumbling around (snowshoeing is harder than it looks), making it easier to bypass any pressure to maintain facades. We had both been through a lot: cross-country moves, stressful job situations, failed previous relationships, and the struggle to reconcile childhood challenges.  But...

Continue reading