A best friend is someone who inspires you to be a better person. Best friendships are unlike any other, where mutual genuine respect and admiration thrive. In honor of Valentine’s Day, I will tell you the story of two strangers who became best friends and fell in love.

Once upon a time, there lived two souls, Amy and Richard Skinner. Richard worked in the hotel and restaurant hospitality industry for over 30 years, gaining experience as a front desk manager, accounting clerk, busboy, server, line cook, and pastry chef. He loved the customer service, the team environment, and days filled with challenge and creativity.

Amy always enjoyed helping people, working in Mexico, Denver, and Boulder at several human services agencies. Eventually, she decided to focus on counseling and earned her Master’s Degree from Naropa University.

Seeing the mental health needs in our mountain community, Amy opened Peak to Peak Counseling in Nederland to serve up and down the Peak to Peak Highway. Therapy and coaching for individuals, couples, children, and groups, as well as consultations, training, and educational programs for businesses, schools, and nonprofit organizations, are available through Peak to Peak Counseling.

Amy and Richard’s paths crossed while enjoying Irish soda bread at the home of Richard’s mother, Rosalie Bargmann, at her holiday open house on Magnolia. After a brief conversation about baking at high altitudes, they both went their separate ways.

A few years later, while Richard was living in Indiana, Amy took the plunge and got on Facebook. While Amy was “friending” Richard’s mother and sister, Richard came up as a friend suggestion, inspiring Amy to send him a friend request.

As fate would have it, they began getting to know each other and sharing many laughs over cross-country phone calls and plans about visits. Little did they know that from the mountaintops, Cupid was aiming his arrow in their direction.

In anticipation of Amy’s first visit, Richard sweetly dressed up to meet her at an Indiana airport, where Richard kissed Amy for the first time. It became one of their fondest memories.

Richard wanted to make a different career move, and Amy was looking for a business partner. The couple found themselves making plans for Richard to move back to Colorado. Soon, Richard hung up his chef’s jacket, and Amy flew to Indiana to join him on a road trip to Gilpin County.

Richard’s customer service, accounting, and managerial background gave him a solid foundation to become the business director at Peak to Peak Counseling, where he loves interacting with the mountain community.

Struck by love’s lightning bolt, it was inevitable that roughly four years after they met, Amy and Richard walked into their wedding reception at the Denver Botanic Gardens to celebrate their best friendship with family and friends.

The couple continues to enjoy trying out new restaurants, hiking, snowshoeing, snowboarding, skiing, having lots of fun running in Denver-Metro races, and attending plays, concerts, and art exhibits.

They also enjoy trying new cooking techniques and new recipes and ingredients. Experiencing different culinary cultures and traveling has also become a staple in their relationship. Amy and Richard have not only fallen in love with one another, but they’ve fallen in love with the close-knit community, the tranquility, and all the beauty that comes at 9,000 feet.

Over the years, their business has grown, allowing them to offer a University Internship Program, coaching, training, and staff development. Honesty, communication, and plenty of laughter have kept Amy and Richard together for seven years.

Though not the end of Amy and Richard’s fairytale, it’s a magical beginning to a story with a beautiful moral: Be open to surprises because you never know when you’ll meet and fall in love with your best friend…and live happily ever after.