Cheers to the Deer Slayer...

Ryan the Deer Slayer is married.

Last spring, shortly before I hit the road for an epic six week journey that took me as far as the distant land known as Newfoundland, I chatted briefly with Ryan about a girl. For the life of me I can't remember if he had just taken her out on a first date or if he was about to. Heck, I can't even remember if this was just before or just after I hit the road. But this was nothing out of the ordinary for us as we often discuss the women in our life.

Turns out this was one worth taking note of.

One falls behind on the news of home while being gone as long as I was. Shortly before I embarked on my trip home, I happened to check my messages and saw a note saying Ryan was 'engaged'. I was only hours away from home and initially didn't know what to think. Was this a joke?...Lord knows I've changed at least one person's status to 'engaged' when they weren't looking...or was this the real deal? Could it be that he actually got engaged while I was gone?

For the next several hours I tried to reach Ryan via phone. I left a message and then would call back roughly every hour or two until I got tired of that. I then started calling every 10 minutes.

I broke up the monotony by numbering my messages and listing significant sporting events/trivia associated with that number. Example: "This is message #2. TWO is the number of Stanley Cups the Avalanche have won as well as the number of Super Bowls the Broncos have won. Two is a good number. Call me back." "This is message #3. THREE is the number of jerseys the Avalanche have retired since the organization moved to Colorado. Three is also the number of times Elway beat Cleveland in the AFC Championship Game. Three is a good number. Call me back."...and so on and so forth.

I was approaching #10 before he called back.

Ryan the Deer Slayer confirmed he was indeed engaged to the news of which my reaction was:

"I'll be the judge of that!"

(No, I did not say this on the phone. Give me some credit!)

After playing a little more phone tag, Ryan and I set up a time, his birthday party, where I would meet the future Mrs. Deer Slayer. The night of the party, she had to work late, so the plan was to go to church and then meet up with some friends at a local pub.

I've known Ryan for some time. I know him quite well. I have never seen him act overly affectionate with a girl no matter what the setting. So imagine my surprise when she showed up and he greeted her with a kiss. Everyone at our table had a big smile on their face. Except me. My jaw dropped from the shock of the moment. And that's when I knew it. This was the one.

So lift a beer as I say 'cheers'! Cheers to the Deer Slayer! May you and your beautiful bride enjoy many years together, years full of love and laughter!