Love on the ice
It was 2009 and I had spared for friends of mine in the Sunday night mixed double league at the Remax Curling Rink in St John’s. I enjoyed it so I gave my name to the president in case a team might be looking for a female team member. I had been widowed at 40years old, six years before, and was just looking to get out of the house and get some exercise. In the fall, I got a call from a skip asking if I was interested in joining them as a lead since they were joining the Sunday league and had lost one female player. I told them that I had been introduced to curling Bonspiels when I was in the military so I just played at a beginner level, for fun. He said they played for fun too and I should come out and meet the team.
They had been playing together for a few years, in the Friday night teachers’ league, but wanted their Friday nights back. Their lead couldn’t make Sundays so that’s when they called me. I had never met any of them before.
The first Sunday of the season, I quickly met Mike, the skip, Laurie, the third, and Sam, the second, at the rink and we played the league scheduled game. I don’t remember what team we played but we had fun although we probably lost. After the game, we sat together over a beer and got acquainted further. We were hitting it off and I agreed to join the league as their lead.
Both Mike and Laurie had to get home to their respective families. It turns out that Sam, the second, was a really nice guy in his 50s and we chatted a bit longer. He was in a casual relationship and I initially wasn’t looking to meet anyone. As you know, the lead and second spend a fair amount of time together on the ice. We always had fun on the ice and enjoyed playing every week even though we didn’t win very often. As a matter of fact, the only time we won anything was the first year when we got the C Division trophy at the end of the curling season (see photo: L-R me, Sam, Laurie, Mike). Over the next three years, I became very fond of Sam. In fall of 2012, when he casually mentioned that his relationship had ended, I could not wipe the silly grin from my face. At 49 years old, and after three years as the lead for the team, I found myself realizing that I had a big crush on my second.
By then, I had just moved and asked Mike and Sam if they could help me with some furniture which they agreed to do. They came to the house and had a beer after helping to move a big couch up the stairs. I mentioned I was looking for someone to look after my cat while I was going away for a week. When Sam offered to cat-sit, I took him up on it. After I got back, I had him over for supper to thank him for looking after the cat. Since we both enjoyed wine, we decided to attend an upcoming wine show together and before long, we were inseparable. We made a pact that if things didn’t work out between us, we would still curl together because we could not break up the team. The team came first! It was over 6 months later that we told our skip and third that we were dating. They were both happy for us.
The pandemic eventually put an end to our league and team, but Sam and I are still together to this day. It has been 16 years since we met and 13 years this month since our first date. And we owe it all to curling! (Second photo is Sam and I now at a show last August)
