This story began when I was only fourteen…and Jay was just 2 years older. I loved him from the first moment I saw him. It was 1985 when I first saw this man who would change my emotional life forever.

That summer was the first time I lived away from home. Most skaters train at their home clubs…so there was really no need to go elsewhere. However, that specific summer and for a reason still unknown to me, my coach decided to take us upstate New York to train.

I noticed him from the first moment I stepped inside the locker room. The entire room belonged to him. He joked, he laughed, and he maneuvered witty little comments like a true master – a master of the tongue that I still can’t forget to this day.

He was friendly yet aloof and somehow unattainable. “Would I ever enter his mind,” I wondered? Unfortunately, in his eyes, I was still invisible…still a shy little girl who needed to grow up.

It wasn’t until 2 years later that he finally noticed me. It took two years for him to notice the young woman that I had become – the woman that loved him with her entire soul.

Our friendship grew closer but our unfortunately, our shields of steel stood their ground. The unfulfilled longing was paralyzing us both. Imagine two people making love without a single touch. That was us.

This went on for quite some time…until the day one of my birthdays rolled around -- a birthday that I will never forget.

I have no doubt that when you hear about Jay's romantic gift to me, you’ll agree that that gift is truly the romantic gift of a lifetime.

It was the winter of 87’ when my coach decided to take a group of us to train in Colorado. The idea was that if you could get through your program at higher altitudes, then you would undoubtedly get through it at any other elevation. And not just get through it…but actually be brilliant. Of course, my coach was right. But I was really bummed out that Jason couldn’t go.

We tried to persuade his parents to let him go but they wouldn’t budge.

I’m sure you can figure out what happened next. The distance…the phone calls…the misunderstandings -- it was a miserable time. What kind of birthday could I possibly have with my heart thousands of miles away?

The day before my birthday was the worst. That was the day that we had that unavoidable, heart-wrenchingfight -- the kind that stems from emotional and physical frustration.

I spent the entire night crying and listening to a Deaf Leopard tape he gave me just few weeks earlier (another romantic gift given to me by Jay for New Years). One song in particular, “Love Bites,” was my absolute favorite because he said it represented the way he felt about me. To this day, I get goose bumps up and down my arms when I hear those lyrics leave the speakers of the radio.

I know what you’re thinking, “so where’s this romantic gift you keep mentioning?”

As I awoke the following morning, the morning after that grandiose fight, Jay was sitting on the side of my bed (yes, in Colorado), with a bouquet of flowers and whispering “Love Bites” softly into my ear (shivers…really, even now, shivers!).

I had to open and close my eyes a couple of times before I realized that this was not a dream. He was actually there, sitting in front of me, having flown to Colorado just to be near me. Is that a romantic gift or what?!

I jumped on him and wrapped my arms around him so tightly that I thought I was going to choke him. “This is my true soul mate,” I thought to myself silently…”the one true love of my life!”

Believe it or not, there was more.

That afternoon, when it came time to have lunch, he suggested that we take a ride on the gondola. So I said, “sure, why not.” Vail is home to some of the most magnificent scenery in the country…scenery that I hadn’t had time to appreciate because of the gruesome training schedule. I was excited to go, and so we went.

When we reached the top of the mountains, Jay asked me to follow him down a narrow path into the woods. “Hmmm”…is what I thought to myself as well. ;-)

But I knew him like I knew myself, and so I followed him down this narrow path. As soon as we entered a small clearing in woods, he asked me to kneel down and take a look at a baby tree that was barely peaking out from the snow.

At first, I couldn’t understand where he was going with this…it was a cute tree, but what did it mean? “Why am I here?” I thought to myself.

As I got closer to the tree, I saw it – I saw the answer to the question inside my head. On the right side of the trunk the following words were inscribed -- “No matter where our paths take us, our hearts will always be intertwined – J&J.”

Can you believe that? He actually came to Colorado the day before to plant that tree for us…no, for me! Yes, little old me. I know it’s unbelievable, but he did! For ME!

Now you understand why that one gift holds a special place in my heart…as does the gift-giver himself.

As it turns out, Jay and I were meant to walk separate paths during this lifetime. Yet for some reason, my soul still feels strongly connected to his...and probably always will.

He's the one who taught me about the penetrating and transforming power of the heart and what it really means to give of oneself. He's the one who first understood me and embraced me. He's the one who told me to remain myself no matter what life dictates.

It was those invisible gifts mentioned above, in addition to many others just like them, that confirmed my belief in soul-mated love and etched Jay's name permanently in my memory.

I've always been fascinated by the ability of one individual to affect another on such a profound level. Because when I think about it, even my gift giving ability can be traced back to Jason. It's true. Whenever I’m asked where I get the inspiration for my romantic gift creations…I always smile and think of him...wondering...could it be his thoughts of me triggering the ideas? ;-)