NEDERLAND - In the house I grew up in, love was something you had to work for; it came with conditions or contingencies. In that town, Darien, Connecticut, love was a new car or a diamond necklace. And though I never fully absorbed those ideals, I still spent the flourishing years of my romantic life not knowing what unconditional love really was. 

I endured a lot of misery in the search for it, but luckily made it through without any tattoos or visible scars—at least not physical ones. Maybe I picked up some bad habits and bad wardrobe accessories from my past relationships, but it’s interesting how much you’re willing to change, or let go of, once you find that right person. 

Not to take you on a swirling rollercoaster ride of a story or anything, but for context, it’s important to know that I didn’t find Natalie Duplessy until I decided to completely change my life. 

When I awoke from a fog of my own late-twenties pretentiousness and bong resin and found myself jobless and in a bed bug-infested apartment (with a roommate who had once, while blacked out, pissed in my laundry hamper, thinking it was the toilet), I knew that drastic measures were necessary.

I slept on a friend's couch and got a job flipping burgers to give myself a kick in the ass. I told the universe then and there what I wanted and what I was not going to accept any longer.

With regained self-respect and a pocket full of goals and ambitions, it’s as if the auras of destiny became physical, and like tectonic plates of fate shifting, brought Natalie and me together. We were ready for each other.

Excuse me for getting a little indulgent; it’s Valentine's Day, and it’s my birthday month, so I’ll emote if I want to…but truthfully, I love Natalie Duplessy, and she has shown me what unconditional love really means.

But, as amazing as we felt in those early years of our relationship, engrossed in the honeymoon phase, grossing out our friends with our unabashed public displays of affection, the immediate world around us did not match our vibes.

Connecticut is cold and sharp, like a pebble between two large boulders, believing it’s being crushed into a beautiful diamond, But its form is an illusion, as it's really just as unified as wildly disparate dust particles clumped together.

It became obvious that we had lingered there too long, and that we were destined for a place with big enough skies. So we went west to Colorado, a place we had always dreamed of visiting. Of course we didn’t know it at the time, but we were dreaming of Nederland.

When we flew across the country, our belongings strapped to our back, our life savings in our pockets, we had but one vision in our minds: we wanted a place where our love could root and grow; a place where we would be understood, to love and be loved unconditionally. 

Aurora didn’t fit that dream. Denver wasn’t that place we were searching for. It was Nederland.

Now, this next part of my indulgent rambling is, in part about Power Couples, but is really about what makes Nederland truly special.

Simply put, Nederland is a great place for good people because good people make Nederland great. It’s a beautiful cycle—an ouroboros, if you want to get fancy—and it’s palpable to those who are attuned to its frequency. 

I believe I first felt it in the canyon, at the curve where the reservoir comes into view, a shimmering welcome mat to the visage of the town, which is nestled like a sleeping puppy among blankets of trees, under glorious snowy peaks. 

 But more than that breathtaking view, more than its “funky” downtown, Nederland is its community. This town runs on volunteers, on dedicated individuals who passionately strive for the benefit of the town and the people they love. 

As blessed with intelligent, creative, and unique individuals as Nederland is, it is doubly so with dedicated, talented, and remarkable couples. And, as this is intended to be a Valentine’s Day rambling, it feels appropriate to highlight these love birds.

The Oxford Dictionary defines Power Couple as “two people who are each influential or successful in their own right.” If that last sentence didn’t make you want to punch this journalist in the face and you’re still reading, I’d add that a Nederland Power Couple combines their powers of awesomeness for the absolute benefit of the community.  

Natalie and I have met countless power couples since we moved to Nederland back in February, 2021; people who have not only influenced us to be better friends, neighbors, and active members of the community, but whose influence has positively impacted Nederland and the Peak to Peak region in a myriad of ways.

To unfurl this like a Bible chapter: Natalie and I came to Nederland because of amazing friends, volunteer firefighters, and ambassadors to the mountains Tara Sergo and Steve Cepek.

Through Tara and Steve we met the owners of Very Nice Brewing Company, Jeff and Susan Green; owners of Tres Gringos, Ben Roy and Carrie Bladyka; and owners of Tin Shed and Salto, Karina and Marcus Luscher—all extraordinary Nederland Power Couples who continuously do amazing things for this community.

Through these great new friends, we began meeting more new friends and awesome couples: Jim Millette and Heather Williams; Heather Taylor-Lande and Otis Lande; Mike and Jaz Mannion; Michelle LaPointe and Nate James; Eric Stone and Laura Cartwright; Molly and Ned Turner; Kerianna Naoma and Skyler Scott; Ray and Layla Bly; and Barbara Hardt and Doug Armitage.  

Once I met Barbara Hardt and starting writing for The Mountain-Ear, I feel as though I immediately met everybody in town, as if all their lives, all their histories, were immediately uploaded to my subconscious like in The Matrix. 

Through covering all-things-Nederland, I have met so many amazing couples who serve, or have served, for the community’s best interests, including Julian and Janette Taylor; Dan and Linda Glasser; Kristopher Larsen and Lindsey Danforth; Scott and Mandi Papich; Charlie and Bretlyn Schmidtmann; Kendra and Dan Trauth; Margie DeFord Yansura and Jeff Yansura; Peter and Ari Cacek; and Joshua Davis and Lisa Reinhart.

Just living here in the center of town and being privileged to shop and eat here, you can meet the Power Couples who have successfully kept Nederland running with their businesses and restaurants. 

These couples include: Dan and Susan Ball with B&F; Lauran Knight and Rob Zdziebkowski with Kaleidoscope Kitchen; Nance and Stephen Matthews with Mountain Goat Tees; Caroline Tully and Jesse Warren with Uproot Florist; Everett and April Nielsen with Inkhaus Tattoo Studio; Rasham Gurung and Lok Mala with Kathmandu; Amy Skinner and Richard Brandon with Peak to Peak Counselling; Kimba Stefane and Jeff Chud with Blue Owl; Audrey Gebhardt and Carl Fritschel with Decent Bagel; and Max and Bri Lynn Rashbaum with Spinning Silica.

And these friends beget more friends, who beget more friends, who beget even more friends, all who deserve a shoutout: Kristin and Steve Conrad; Ariell Ray and Tony Conrad; Jesse and Wanda Langenback; Amelie and Jay Gormley; Brian Wolgamott and Sarah Richmond; Anita Whitaker Feeley and Mark Feeley; Annie and Jamie Carpenter; Claudia Schauffler and Mona Crowe; Sarah Banker and Brent Bishop; Sean Bryant and Leah Haney; and Sandy Betters and Michael Buell.

I can honestly say, living in Aurora, Natalie and I did not know the names of any of our neighbors, let alone this many. Granted, I wasn’t a community journalist then, but let’s not ruin the illusion here, let’s live in the poetry. 

Natalie and I feel extremely lucky to know so many of you, to share our lives and dreams with you, and to work together with you to continue making Nederland a special place where unconditional love can root and grow amongst a garden of likeminded souls. 

If there is anyone from our 1,500 population that I forgot to mention, I put it on you, dear reader, to submit to The Mountain-Ear the names of those couples, or individuals, who deserve a shoutout in our community newspaper.