FEAR.

Early yesterday morning, while I was getting ready for work, Dave was preparing to go on a snowmobiling day trip. He was so excited, he almost left without kissing me good bye. After a sweet kiss, I told him to be sure those lips came home safe and sound. He promised.

On my way to work, I was thinking about our relationship: our 2.5 years of dating and (almost) 2 years of marriage. I thought about all the issues we had to get thru before we could get married -- i.e. Dave had to stop being afraid of me :) I called him just to tell him I was so glad we were married and happy and I'm sorry I take him for granted. He agreed and said he loved me too. i didn't want to hang up, but I knew he was anxious to get going, so I said bye and told him to be safe.

Skip to 8 pm. No word from Dave. I didn't expect him to be home by 8, but I did expect him to be back in the range of cell service by 8. I was worried, but at the same time figured they were just having too much fun or had stopped to eat or whatever. I finally got a call from him at 8:30, and learned that my worries were justified.

Skip back to approx 4pm. Dave and his friend Dallas are having a great time playing on the snowmobiles. It was time to head back, so they were looking for a place to turn around. Dallas was following Dave-- or so he thought. Dallas found a place to turn around, and got stuck. Dave had no idea. he just kept going thinking Dallas was behind him. Dave then found a place to turn around, and also got stuck. They were each all alone, and it was getting dark. They each started heading toward a little shack they had passed earlier. It got dark and cold. They got scared.

Dave's dad and the people he was with got worried. They went to the shack and found Dallas there. He had made it there after hours of hiking thru the snow, in the dark. He had feared for his life, wondering if he'd be found, and even left a note to his wife on his cell phone, thinking it would be found along with his frozen body. They asked where Dave was. Dallas didn't know. He didn't know Dave hadn't made it back.

They called the Search and Rescue team , who was eventually able to find Dave only because he had the flash on his cell phone shining. Otherwise, he doesn't think he would have been found. He was preparing for the possibility of spending the night in the snow sub-zero temperatures. his fingers and toes were purple, hardly kept warm by his snow gear. Thank goodness nothing had to be amputated!!

I'm still very emotional about the whole thing, mostly because I haven't talked to Dave since 10pm, since there is no service where they are. He had to drive almost an hour just to call to let me know he was okay. And I'm obviously dying to see him!

I'm not going to lie-- as it approaches sundown, I'm getting nervous all over again. But I'm sure he's fine. Right?

I'm so glad tragedy was averted, but I'm also grateful I was able to tell Dave that morning just how much I loved him. I joked with Dallas's wife that Dallas loved her more than Dave loved me because she got a love letter! Then I said, or maybe Dave loves me more because he never lost the will to live ;)