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My Ex’s Mom and I Got Stranded in a Snowstorm… She Said, “Don’t Tell Her About Tonight…” — Transcript

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0:00At midnight in a lime-green rental car
0:03buried in snow on Highway 61, my
0:06ex-girlfriend's mother pulled away from
0:08my kiss, pressed her cold fingers
0:11against my lips, and whispered, "Jake,
0:14don't tell her about tonight."
0:16Her name was Diane Holloway. She was
0:19wearing my hockey jacket over a Phoenix
0:21sundress. Her lipstick was gone, and the
0:24windows were completely fogged. And I
0:27knew right then that I was in more
0:28trouble than the car was. But, let me
0:31back up. My name is Jake Sullivan. I'm
0:3436 years old. I teach gym and coach high
0:37school hockey in St. Paul, Minnesota. I
0:40grew up in a little town called Pine
0:42Ridge, way up on the north shore of Lake
0:45Superior, where everybody knows your
0:47business before you do. That's where I
0:50met Kayla Holloway. We dated for 3
0:52years. She was smart, ambitious, and
0:55always halfway out the door. 2 years
0:58ago, she got a job offer in Austin,
1:00Texas, and told me, "Jake, you're too
1:03settled. You already know where you'll
1:05be buried." She wasn't wrong. It's the
1:08cemetery behind the Lutheran church.
1:10Nice view.
1:11We broke up without screaming, just
1:13sadness. She moved to Texas. Last I
1:17heard, she was engaged to a guy named
1:19Brett who sells solar panels and runs
1:21marathons for fun. But, her mom, Diane,
1:25never stopped being kind to me. Every
1:27Christmas, she still mailed me a card.
1:30Every hockey season, she still sent a
1:32tin of her famous peanut butter cookies
1:34to my team. "For the boys," she'd write,
1:36"not for you. You're on thin ice,
1:38Sullivan."
1:39Diane was 48, a widow. She'd lost her
1:42husband, Mike, 10 years ago, and she ran
1:45the only flower shop in Pine Ridge. She
1:48had honey-brown hair, warm hazel eyes,
1:51and a laugh you could hear from across
1:53the grocery store. When I dated Kayla,
1:55I'd always liked her, respected her. I
1:58never once let myself notice more than
2:00that until the snowstorm.
2:03Three days before Christmas, I was stuck
2:06at the Minneapolis airport. My
2:08connecting flight to Duluth had been
2:10canceled. Every flight north had been
2:12canceled. A massive blizzard was rolling
2:14down from Canada and the whole terminal
2:17was full of angry people in parkas. I
2:20ran to the rental car counter. There was
2:22one car left. "It's yours," the agent
2:25said, "if you want it." I signed the
2:27paperwork and then a voice behind me
2:29said, "Oh, you have got to be kidding
2:32me." I turned around. Diane Holloway was
2:35standing there in a big floppy sun hat,
2:38white sandals, and a yellow sundress
2:40holding a suitcase covered in palm tree
2:42stickers. Her cheeks were pink from the
2:45cold blowing in through the terminal
2:47doors.
2:48"Jake Sullivan," she said, narrowing her
2:50eyes, "did you just take the last car in
2:53Minnesota?"
2:54"Mrs. Holloway?" "Don't Mrs. Holloway
2:57me. I've known you since you were a dumb
2:59teenager." She pointed at the keys in my
3:02hand. "Is that the last car?"
3:05"It's the last car." "Where are you
3:07going?" "Pine Ridge, my mom's." She
3:10smiled slowly. "Well, isn't that
3:12convenient? So am I." I looked at her
3:15sandals. "Diane, where are your boots?"
3:18"In Phoenix with my sister, where it is
3:2175 degrees." She lifted her chin. "I
3:24didn't plan on being in a blizzard,
3:26Jake. I planned on changing planes like
3:28a civilized woman."
3:30I laughed. I couldn't help it. "Come on,
3:33I'll drive you home." The car turned out
3:35to be a tiny lime green hatchback,
3:37bright green, like a frog that got a
3:40job. Diane stared at it in the parking
3:42garage. "Oh, no. It's the last car. It
3:46looks like a lime with wheels." "Then
3:49get in the lime, Diane." She laughed so
3:51hard she had to lean on the hood.
3:54For the first 2 hours, it was actually
3:56fun. We stopped at a gas station in Two
3:58Harbors. Diane came out with two
4:00coffees, a bag of beef jerky, a box of
4:03powdered donuts, and a big fleece
4:06blanket with a moose on it that said,
4:08"Minnesota nice."
4:09"What's the blanket for?" I asked. "I'm
4:12wearing a sundress in December, Jake.
4:14It's for survival." "The moose is a nice
4:17touch." "The moose was on sale." She
4:20took control of the radio immediately.
4:22Fleetwood Mac, then Whitney Houston,
4:25then she sang along to "Dreams" so loud
4:27and so off-key that I had to pull over
4:30because I was laughing too hard to see
4:31the road. "You can't sing," I told her.
4:35"I sang in a band in college," she said
4:37proudly. "Was it a good band?" "It was a
4:40terrible band. We were called the
4:42Raspberry Jams. We played one bar in
4:45Duluth and got paid in nachos." "That's
4:48the best thing I've ever heard." She
4:50looked over at me, eyes bright. "Your
4:52secret's safe with me."
4:54She smiled out the windshield. "I'm
4:57starting to think a lot of things are
4:58safe with you, Jake."
5:00I didn't know what to do with that, so I
5:02kept driving.
5:03Then the snow got serious. By 6:00 it
5:07was dark and the snow was coming
5:09sideways. The wind off Lake Superior was
5:12shaking the little car. I could barely
5:14see the reflectors on the side of
5:16Highway 61.
5:17I slowed to 20 mph, then 15.
5:22"Jake," Diane said quietly. She'd
5:25stopped singing.
5:27"Maybe we should pull over."
5:29"There's nowhere to pull over, just
5:31trees and lake."
5:33Then my phone buzzed with an emergency
5:35alert. Highway 61 closed from Two
5:38Harbors to Grand Marais.
5:40We were right in the middle.
5:42And before I could even say anything,
5:44the back tires lost the road. The car
5:47spun slowly, almost gently, and slid
5:50nose first into a deep snowbank on the
5:52side of the highway.
5:54Then everything was quiet.
5:57Diane was gripping the dashboard with
5:59both hands.
6:00"Are we dead?" "We're not dead."
6:03"Are we stuck?"
6:05I pressed the gas, the wheels spun,
6:07nothing.
6:09We're stuck.
6:10She let go of the dashboard and looked
6:12at me.
6:13"Well, coach, what's the plan?"
6:16Here's the thing about growing up in
6:17northern Minnesota, you learn this stuff
6:20before you learn to drive.
6:22I zipped up my coat, pushed the door
6:24open against the wind, and dug the snow
6:26away from the tailpipe so we could run
6:28the engine for heat without poisoning
6:30ourselves. I tied Diane's red scarf to
6:33the antenna so the plows could see us.
6:35Then I climbed back in, shaking, covered
6:38in snow.
6:40"We run the engine 10 minutes every
6:42hour," I said, teeth chattering. "Keep
6:44the tailpipe clear. Stay in the car. The
6:47plows will come in the morning."
6:49Diane stared at me.
6:51"That was very manly. Thank you. Your
6:54hands are purple." "They'll be okay."
6:57She grabbed my hands and pulled them
6:59into her lap inside the moose blanket
7:02and rubbed them between hers.
7:04"Diane, you don't have to." "Hush," she
7:07said. "You just saved my life in the
7:09snow. Let me save your fingers."
7:12Her hands were warm and I suddenly
7:15became very aware that I was holding
7:17hands with my ex-girlfriend's mother in
7:20a lime green car in the dark.
7:22By 10:00, the car was freezing. We'd
7:26eaten all the powdered donuts, half the
7:28beef jerky. Diane had put on every piece
7:31of clothing in her suitcase, three
7:33sundresses, a cardigan, two pairs of
7:36yoga pants, and a sun hat for, as she
7:39said, "emotional support."
7:41I'd given her my hockey jacket. She was
7:43still shivering.
7:45"Jake," she said finally, "I'm going to
7:48say something and I want you to be a
7:49grown-up about it." "Okay."
7:52"It's warmer in the back seat if we
7:55share the blanket." I looked at her. She
7:57looked straight ahead, cheeks pink.
8:00"For survival," she added quickly.
8:03"For survival," I agreed.
8:06We climbed into the back seat. It was
8:08not designed for a 6'2 hockey coach and
8:11a woman wearing three dresses. We ended
8:14up tangled together under the moose
8:15blanket, her back against my chest, my
8:19arms around her waist. Slowly, she
8:21stopped shivering.
8:23"Better?" I whispered.
8:25"Much better." She whispered back.
8:28"Your heart is beating really fast,
8:30Jake." She said. "It's definitely the
8:33cold."
8:34"Mhm." She said, smiling.
8:37Outside, the wind howled. Inside, it was
8:40dark and quiet except for our breathing.
8:43"Let's play a game." Diane said, "So we
8:46don't fall asleep and freeze."
8:48"What game?"
8:49"Truth." "I ask, you answer. Honestly.
8:53Then you ask me."
8:54"Okay. You first."
8:56She thought about it.
8:58"Why did you and Kayla really break up?"
9:01I took a breath.
9:02"She said I was too settled, and she was
9:05right. I like my little life. I like
9:07coaching kids. I like knowing everybody
9:10at the hardware store. Kayla wanted
9:12adventure. I wanted a porch." I paused.
9:16"Honestly, by the end, I don't think
9:18either of us was in love anymore. We
9:20were just used to each other."
9:23Diane was quiet.
9:24"She said the same thing, almost word
9:27for word."
9:28"Your turn. Truth."
9:30"When was the last time you went on a
9:32date?"
9:33She laughed softly. "Jake." "You said
9:37honestly."
9:38She sighed.
9:39"Not since Mike died."
9:41"10 years."
9:43"10 years? Diane."
9:45"Pine Ridge has 4,000 people, and half
9:48of them knew my husband. Who was I going
9:51to date? The pharmacist? He's 72 and he
9:54calls me young lady." She shook her
9:56head. "Besides, I had Kayla to raise and
9:59the shop. And after a while, I just
10:02stopped thinking of myself like that."
10:05"Like what?"
10:06"Like a woman somebody could want."
10:08I tightened my arms around her a little.
10:11That's the dumbest thing I've ever
10:12heard.
10:13She turned her head. Excuse me? You
10:16heard me.
10:17Jake Sullivan, you're in my car. It's my
10:20car. I rented it. You're calling me
10:23dumb? I'm calling the thought dumb, not
10:26you. My voice went quieter.
10:28Diane, you're singing Fleetwood Mac at
10:31the top of your lungs for an hour. You
10:33bought a moose blanket for survival. You
10:36rubbed my frozen hands like it was
10:38nothing. You're beautiful and you're
10:40funny and any man in Pine Ridge would be
10:42lucky if you looked at him twice.
10:45She went very still in my arms.
10:47Your turn, I said softly. Ask me
10:50something.
10:51She was quiet for a long time, then she
10:54whispered,
10:55Do you think I'm beautiful or you just
10:57being nice to a cold old lady in a
10:59snowbank?
11:01Truth? She said. Truth?
11:05I've thought you were beautiful since
11:07the moment you walked up to that rental
11:09counter in a sun hat and yelled at me.
11:12She slowly turned around in my arms. In
11:14the dim glow of the dashboard, I could
11:16see her face, her hazel eyes wide and
11:19soft, her lips parted.
11:22Jake, she whispered. We can't. I know.
11:26You dated my daughter.
11:27Two years ago and she's engaged to a guy
11:30who runs marathons for fun.
11:33She almost laughed. Brett is very nice.
11:36Everybody keeps telling me that.
11:38I'm 12 years older than you.
11:41I can count. She looked at my mouth,
11:43then back at my eyes.
11:45This is a terrible idea, she whispered.
11:48Probably.
11:50And then she leaned in and kissed me.
11:52Soft first, careful, like she was asking
11:55a question.
11:56Then I slid my hand into her hair and
11:59she made a small sound against my lips
12:01and the kiss went slow and warm and
12:04deep. She tasted like coffee and
12:06powdered sugar. Her fingers curled into
12:09the front of my sweater and pulled me
12:10closer.
12:12Outside the blizzard roared over Lake
12:14Superior. Inside the windows fogged up
12:17completely.
12:19When we finally pulled apart, she
12:21pressed her forehead against mine,
12:22breathing hard. Then she touched her
12:25cold fingers to my lips.
12:27"Jake," she whispered, "don't tell her
12:30about tonight."
12:31I looked at her.
12:32"Is that what you want?"
12:34"I don't know what I want. That's the
12:36problem. I haven't wanted anything for
12:3810 years, and now I want something I
12:41shouldn't have."
12:42"Diane," she said, "just promise me.
12:45Don't tell Kayla. Not yet, until I
12:48figure out what this is."
12:50I brushed a strand of hair out of her
12:52face.
12:53"I promise."
12:55She let out a long breath and laid her
12:57head on my chest.
12:59"Thank you."
13:00"But Diane."
13:02"Mhm?"
13:03"I'm not going to pretend it didn't
13:05happen."
13:06She smiled against my sweater.
13:08"Good," she whispered, "neither am I."
13:11We ran the engine every hour. We talked
13:14until 2:00 in the morning.
13:16About Mike, who used to dance with her
13:18in the kitchen. About my dad, who taught
13:20me to skate on the frozen lake behind
13:22our house.
13:23About how both of us had gotten so good
13:26at being alone that we'd forgotten it
13:28wasn't the same as being happy. Sometime
13:31after 3:00, she fell asleep in my arms.
13:34I didn't sleep at all. I just held her
13:37and listened to the wind and wondered
13:39what in the world I'd just done.
13:42At 7:00 in the morning, a snow plow
13:44rumbled up the highway. The driver saw
13:46Diane's red scarf on the antenna and
13:49stopped. His name was Hank Olson. He'd
13:52delivered propane to Diane's house for
13:5420 years. He looked through the back
13:56window at the two of us, tangled
13:59together under a moose blanket, and his
14:01eyebrows went all the way up into his
14:03hat.
14:04"Morning, Diane," he said slowly.
14:07"Morning, Hank," she said with as much
14:09dignity as a woman wearing three
14:11sundresses can have.
14:14"Everything all right in there?
14:16We were surviving, Hank. Hank looked at
14:19me, then at her, then he smiled. Well,
14:23looks like you survived real good.
14:25He pulled us out of the snowbank with a
14:27chain, and we drove the last 40 minutes
14:30into Pine Ridge in total silence. Not
14:33awkward silence, the other kind. The
14:35kind where you keep sneaking looks at
14:38each other and getting caught.
14:40When I pulled up in front of her flower
14:41shop, she sat there for a second without
14:43moving.
14:44So, she said. So?
14:48Kayla flies in on Christmas Eve with
14:50Brett.
14:51I know.
14:52She looked at me. I meant it, Jake.
14:55Don't tell her.
14:56I won't.
14:58She reached for the door handle, then
15:00she stopped, then she leaned over,
15:02kissed me quickly on the cheek, grabbed
15:04her palm tree suitcase, and ran inside
15:07without looking back. I sat there in the
15:09line with my hand on my cheek like an
15:11idiot for a full 5 minutes.
15:14The next morning, I walked into Holloway
15:15Flowers. The little bell over the door
15:18jingled. Diane looked up from the
15:20counter where she was making a wreath.
15:22She was wearing a red sweater and real
15:24boots this time. When she saw me, her
15:27whole face went pink.
15:29Jake, what are you doing here?
15:31Buying flowers.
15:33For who? My mom. You're buying your
15:36mother flowers? I'm a good son. She
15:39narrowed her eyes. Fine. One poinsettia,
15:43$12.
15:45The next day, I came back, bought
15:47another poinsettia. On the third day,
15:49another. She wrapped it in red paper and
15:52wrote on the card, "Your mother is a
15:54very lucky woman. D." On the fourth day,
15:57she put her hands on her hips. Jake
16:00Sullivan, your mother now has four
16:02poinsettias. People are going to talk.
16:05Let them talk. My mom loves poinsettias.
16:09Your mom is allergic to poinsettias. She
16:11told me at church. I opened my mouth,
16:14closed it. Diane laughed, and it was the
16:17best sound I'd heard all week. Then she
16:20came around the counter, grabbed the
16:22front of my coat, pulled me into the
16:24back room behind the cooler full of
16:26roses, and kissed me. "You're
16:28ridiculous," she whispered against my
16:30lips. "You're smiling." "I know, it's
16:33very inconvenient." That night I took
16:36her skating on the frozen lake behind my
16:38mom's house under the stars with the
16:40moon on the ice. She hadn't skated in 15
16:43years. She held onto me the whole time
16:46laughing every time she wobbled. "You're
16:49a hockey coach," she said. "Don't you
16:51dare let me fall." "I would never let
16:54you fall." Then she wobbled, grabbed my
16:56jacket, and we both nearly went down.
16:59"You said you would never let me fall."
17:01"I'm going down with you. That's
17:03different." She looked up at me. The
17:06cold had turned her nose and cheeks red.
17:08Her breath came out in little white
17:10clouds. "I think I'm already falling,
17:13Jake," she said softly. I kissed her in
17:16the middle of that frozen lake under a
17:18sky full of stars and for once Diane
17:21Holloway didn't pull away.
17:24But two days later on the night before
17:26Christmas Eve everything fell apart. I
17:29showed up at her house with Chinese
17:31takeout. She opened the door but she
17:33didn't let me in. Her eyes were red.
17:36"Jake," she said quietly, "we need to
17:39stop." My stomach dropped. "What
17:42happened?" "Nothing happened. I've just
17:44been thinking." She wrapped her arms
17:46around herself. "You're 36. You love
17:49kids. I watch you with your hockey team.
17:52You should have a family someday. A wife
17:54your age, babies, a whole crowd of
17:57little Sullivans on skates." "Diane, she
18:01I'm 48. I already raised my kid. I can't
18:04give you that life." Her voice cracked.
18:07"And someday you're going to look at me
18:09and realize I'm the reason you didn't
18:11get it. I won't be that. I won't."
18:15"Don't decide that for me." "Somebody
18:18has to." Tears ran down her face. Go
18:21home, Jake. Please. And she closed the
18:24door.
18:25Christmas Eve came. Kayla flew in with
18:27Brett. The whole town went to the
18:29candlelight service at the Lutheran
18:31church. I sat with my mom. Diane sat
18:34three rows ahead with Kayla and Brett.
18:37She didn't turn around once.
18:39After the service, outside in the snow,
18:42Kayla walked up to me. Hey, Jake. Hey,
18:44Kayla. Merry Christmas. She looked good.
18:47Happy. Brett was across the parking lot
18:50shaking hands with everyone like he was
18:52running for mayor.
18:53Then Kayla crossed her arms and said,
18:56"So, Hank Olson told my aunt, who told
18:59my cousin, who told me that he found you
19:01and my mother wrapped up in a moose
19:03blanket on Highway 61."
19:06My heart stopped. Kayla, I
19:09"And Mrs. Peterson at the post office
19:11says you've bought poinsettias this
19:13week, and your mom's allergic." I closed
19:16my eyes. Small "towns. Small towns." She
19:20agreed. For a long moment, neither of us
19:23said anything. I waited for her to yell,
19:26to slap me, to burst into tears.
19:28Instead, she sighed. "Is it serious?" I
19:32looked at her, and I told the truth. "It
19:35is for me." She was quiet. "It's weird,
19:38Jake. It's super weird. I'm going to
19:41need a lot of wine to process this.
19:44That's fair.
19:45But I've been watching her all week."
19:47Kayla looked across the parking lot at
19:49her mom, who was standing alone by the
19:51church steps, staring at the snow.
19:54"She's been humming. She sang Fleetwood
19:56Mac while she made pancakes. My mother
19:59hasn't sung in 10 years. Not since Dad."
20:03My throat went tight. "And then
20:05yesterday," Kayla said, "she stopped.
20:08She's been crying in the bathroom when
20:10she thinks I can't hear."
20:12"She ended it," I said quietly. "She
20:14thinks I should have a family, kids,
20:17someone my age." Kayla laughed softly.
20:20"Of Of she does. She did the same thing
20:235 years ago. A nice man from Duluth
20:26asked her to dinner three times. She
20:29told him he deserved someone less
20:31complicated. She looked at me. She
20:33pushes people away to protect them. It's
20:36her worst habit. So what do I do? Kayla
20:40looked at me for a long time. Then she
20:42said something I'll never forget.
20:45You were always too settled for me,
20:47Jake. You knew exactly where you wanted
20:50to be. She nodded toward her mother.
20:53Maybe that's because she's who you were
20:55supposed to be settled with. Then she
20:57walked back to Brett and I walked across
21:00the parking lot through the falling
21:02snow.
21:03Diane saw me coming. She shook her head.
21:06Jake, don't. Kayla knows, I said
21:09quietly. All the color left her face.
21:12What? Hank told everybody. Mrs. Peterson
21:16told everybody else. The whole town
21:19knows. Oh God. Diane, listen to me. I've
21:23coached over 400 kids. I've got 30 boys
21:27on my team right now who call me at
21:29midnight when their girlfriends dump
21:31them. I've got all the kids I need. What
21:34I don't have is someone to come home to.
21:37Someone who sings Fleetwood Mac badly
21:40and buys moose blankets for survival.
21:42Diane, you don't get to decide what my
21:45life is missing. I already know what
21:48it's missing. I took her cold hands in
21:50mine. It's you. Tears were pouring down
21:54her face now. People were staring. Half
21:57the town was standing in that parking
21:58lot pretending not to listen.
22:01Everybody's watching, she whispered. Let
22:04them watch. And I kissed her right there
22:07on the church steps in the snow on
22:09Christmas Eve in front of the pastor and
22:12Hank Olson and Mrs. Peterson and the
22:15entire town of Pine Ridge. She threw her
22:18arms around my neck and kissed me back.
22:21Somewhere behind us I heard Kayla yell,
22:24I said I needed wine for this." And
22:27somebody, I'm pretty sure it was Hank,
22:29started clapping. It wasn't easy after
22:32that. People talked. Some of them said I
22:35was too young. Some of them said she was
22:37too old. One lady at the hardware store
22:40said it was a scandal. Diane said it was
22:43the most exciting thing anyone had said
22:45about her in 10 years. Kayla and I had a
22:48long honest talk on her mom's porch in
22:51January. And by the summer at Kayla's
22:54wedding in Austin, she pulled me aside
22:56and said, "If you ever break her heart,
22:59I'll tell Brett to run you down. He's
23:01very fast." Diane and I spent that whole
23:05year falling deeper. She came to every
23:07one of my home hockey games and yelled
23:10at the referees so loud they started
23:12waving at her. I helped her at the
23:14flower shop on Valentine's Day and got
23:17stabbed by 80 roses. We danced in her
23:20kitchen to Fleetwood Mac the way Mike
23:22used to. "Does it bother you?" I asked
23:25her once, "dancing in his kitchen?" She
23:28smiled up at me. "No, I think he'd be
23:31glad somebody finally got me to sing
23:33again."
23:34One year after the snowstorm, 3 days
23:37before Christmas, I asked Diane to take
23:39a drive with me. She walked outside and
23:42stopped dead on her porch. Parked in her
23:45driveway was a tiny lime-green
23:48hatchback. "Oh, no." Diane said, "Jake
23:52Sullivan, tell me you didn't." "I called
23:54the rental company. Took me 2 weeks to
23:57find it. It still looks like a lime with
24:00wheels." "Then get in the lime, Diane."
24:03She laughed and climbed in. I drove her
24:06down Highway 61. The night was clear and
24:10cold. Stars everywhere over Lake
24:12Superior. And at that exact same spot,
24:16right by the exact same snowbank, I
24:18pulled over. She looked at me. "Why are
24:21we stopping here?" I didn't answer. I
24:24just reached into the backseat and
24:26pulled out the moose blanket. Then I
24:28reached into my pocket and pulled out a
24:31small velvet box. Diane covered her
24:34mouth with both hands. "A year ago,
24:37right here," I said, "you kissed me and
24:40told me, 'Don't tell her about tonight.'
24:42And I kept that promise for about 3 days
24:46until Hank Olson told the whole town."
24:48She laughed through her tears. "But I'm
24:51done keeping it a secret, Diane. I want
24:54to tell everybody about tonight and
24:56tomorrow and every night after that for
24:59the rest of our lives." I opened the
25:01box. "Diane Holloway, will you marry
25:04me?" She was crying so hard she couldn't
25:08talk. She just nodded. Then she grabbed
25:11my face and kissed me and the windows of
25:13that little green car fogged up all over
25:16again. "Yes," she finally whispered.
25:19"Yes, you ridiculous man. Yes." We got
25:23married the next summer on the shore of
25:25Lake Superior. Diane wore a pale blue
25:28dress and real shoes. Kayla gave the
25:31toast. Brett ran there from his hotel
25:35for fun. Hank Olson gave a speech about
25:38rescuing us from the snowbank and got a
25:40standing ovation. And our first dance
25:43was Dreams by Fleetwood Mac. Diane sang
25:46every word loudly and off-key and I
25:50wouldn't have changed a single note. Now
25:53every winter when the first big
25:55snowstorm rolls in off the lake, Diane
25:58wraps herself in that old moose blanket,
26:01curls up next to me on our porch and
26:04whispers with a smile, "Don't tell her
26:06about tonight." And every winter I kiss
26:09her and say, "Too late. I told
26:12everybody." So tell me, have you ever
26:15fallen for someone you were never
26:17supposed to? And would you have kept the
26:19secret or told the whole town? Share
26:22your story in the comments. And if this
26:24story warmed your heart, hit like,
26:27subscribe, and I'll see you in the next
26:29one.

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