The Mating of Two Souls

I have been reflecting a lot lately about the love, the joy, the happiness, and even the struggles that Tommy and I were so lucky to have shared. Was our relationship perfect? No. Was it perfect for us? Absolutely...hands down, no questions asked! We had an amazing relationship with minimal bickering, believe it or not. I would like to share the story of us.

 

As many know, Tommy and I did not get the pleasure to live out a long life together. We fell hard, fast and passionately for each other and those are the same words I would use to describe everything about us. Tommy and I met online on a dating website and we would message each other, text and call each other for months before we finally met in person. I remember playing it super safe. I met Tommy at Starbucks on my way to work one day and I could remember not wanting to leave because of his infectious spirit. You just had to know more about this guy! Unfortunately, I did have to go to work. From there we would continue meeting to go to Farmer's Markets, dinners, etc. Tommy was the one that then introduced me into rock climbing and from there he continued to push me in the sport I loved, the outdoors. Several months in to our "courting," I decided I needed to go on a dating detox in order to find out what I really needed/wanted/desired out of life (don't know if you know this, but there are some super creeps on those dating websites). During my dating detox, Tommy would not leave me alone. He is very persistent! He would call, leave messages, threaten to just show up at my door...all just to see me. And yes, now he sounds like one of those super creeps...but he wasn't. He was genuine, sweet, and a perfect gentleman. In fact, I still have one of his voice mails from this time and I just listened to the other day. The message is as follows: "Hey there, how are ya? It's Tommy...I know you are going to tell me you are tired or you need to sleep but...GET UP!" A few sentences later, he says "You do know I am a salesman and can handle rejection very well. But because I am a salesman, I also don't back down until I get what I want." That last sentence pretty much sums up Tommy Fountain.

 



It is hard to deny that I had an instant connection to Tommy....but....I tried to fight it! It took 6 months for us to have our first kiss, which is another fun story in itself. To no surprise to any of you, we had our first kiss on the summit of Empire Mountain in Sequoia National Park. From that day on, we were inseparable! I would go to his apartment before work for dinner, he would pick me up to go veggie shopping, we would prep hummus plates together, and we would hike and climb and play in the mountains every chance we had. One month after our first kiss, he told me he loved me, the next month we move in together. Five months after we move in together, he proposes on the summit of Mt. Kilimanjaro in Tanzania. Eight months after the proposal, we were wed at the base of Mt. Rainier. We spent every chance he had in the mountains, we both had that desire to spend every waking moment in the wilderness. You either have that in you or you don't. Every Thanksgiving we would do a multi day trip in the mountains and being thankful for what the world has given us in terms of the breathtaking beauty of the wild and the love we were able to find each other. Our whole life together was spent looking for our next opportunity to get out into the mountains, it is where we truly felt alive and together and when we were out there together, everything was right in the world. We looked forward to every one of those moments.

 

There are many stories and memories that I would like to share with you one day, for right now, many of the specific stories are still much too painful for me to share. Despite the pain, I know I want to share those memories with you all for I cannot stand the pain of those memories potentially being lost.

 

I will say that Tommy was always proud of everything I did and would always push me to do better and to do more. Whether it was work related or physical goals. He was always encouraging me to pursue my flight nursing or to go back to school or to climb a harder route. No matter what it was that I was doing at the time, he would push me to be better at it, to be the best. I would frequently over hear him talking to coworkers on the phone and he would light up when telling them our next adventure plans or what I was up to at work/life or our family plans when Penelope was with us. He made me feel beautiful no matter what. It didn't matter if I just woke up from a REALLY ROUGH night or if I put on 30 pounds...in his eyes I was the most beautiful person in the world. We always had crazy ideas and believe it or not, sometimes my ideas were crazier than his and it was Tommy that would reorient me to reality but to also push us to pursue the possibility of completing my craze ideas. He would nurture my aspirations with a sense of pride mixed with reality. Hard to explain but it was amazing to have that in a partner. Speaking of partner...we did everything as a team, we were the best of partners in this crazy life. He would always say we were a power couple and there was nothing in this world that we couldn't do as long as we did it together.

Tommy, you are still with me for you are in my heart and soul. You are with me every breath I take, every sight I see, every thing I do...you are still with me. There is still nothing that we cannot do! I love you.