My first “date” with my now husband was an outing to go rock climbing. I say date like that because it was supposed to be just two friends having a bit of fun trying something new together. Perhaps if we’d done something else together it would have stayed just friends hanging out, but there was something about being up that high, looking down and realizing that I had to trust this man with my safety, this man was the reason I wasn’t going to fall. Sounds a bit melodramatic when I re-read that part lol, but that’s how I felt. He confessed he felt the same when he was up at the top, and that it made him look at me differently. It made him think about me, who I was, what I stood for, and the fact that he could indeed trust me with his safety and perhaps even his heart.
I had been rock climbing many times before, only I never actually climbed when I went, instead I belayed for my eldest every week. I started taking Mr. C when he was 3 and a half years old. See he had a fixation with climbing the furniture at home and I figured if he was climbing the furniture it was because he wanted to climb stuff in general (I know, total genius on my part lol) Since I didn’t like him climbing the furniture I thought about what would be a great equivalent and came up with rock climbing. He loved it, and so we’d go and I’d belay for him while he climbed to his heart’s content.
Fast-forward the years to now…There is a rock climbing wall at our local YMCA that members can use anytime they want, IF they are certified by the Y to do so. They also offer an instructor there every Saturday from noon till 2pm that will belay for anyone interested, but because it’s a once a week thing, there are lots of kids eager to climb and I just find it difficult because of having 2-4 other children with me every Saturday especially the wonderful Mr. N and Miss. G, both of whom seemed to have inherited my deficit in the patience region, and so aren’t all that great at sitting in their stroller just now waiting in line for the elder 1-3 kids to climb. However, each Monday night from 7:30-8:30pm the Y offers a certification class! So of course last night I was at there showing off my ability to tie really secure knots to the friendly instructor and by the end of it she had certified me.
I can now take the wee ones any day or time to use the rock climbing wall, I can even belay for my husband again which might be a fun night out, filled with reminders of our beginning and the very potent reminder to trust one another, because we will be there for each other no matter what transpires, no matter what life throws at us, we’ll always watch each other’s butts as we climb the obstacles life puts in our paths.
Behind starburst eyes 
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