At the time I got it I was anticipating ice cream at a cute shop in Philly, with glass bottled soda and vintage decor. The line that John and I and our four daughters and one son were waiting in snaked around two corners. It reminded me of many lines in which we plodded slowly toward a roller coaster ride back in our Disneyland years.

It was Lukas's birthday, the one who sent the text, and my first impression was that it would be a few hours of walking and lots of pictures. While we indulged in organic blueberry ice cream from local berries I called to offer birthday greetings. 

"How long will it take? " I inquired.

"Thirteen hours." Although he is in his third decade and has been financially independent for twelve years the mother in me bolted. Could I forbid this? Suddenly the afternoon jaunt escalated to a dangerous situation. 

"The last few hundred feet are a forty five degree angle, and we will pull ourselves up by a chain bolted to the ground."

"Do you WANT to do this?"

"I want to have done it," he laughed.

Although the scope of challenge at Half Dome is well documented, people still crowd the roads to Yosemite, hence the lottery. Is anyone having fun? Not sure. 

Marriage is an uphill climb in places. Yet people still flock to the alter. Thankfully there are chains in place to help us on the truly brutal parts. 

Lukas and his wife Amy finished the 17.6 mile climb in twelve hours and twenty eight minutes, with eighty of those spent enjoying the peak. They drank seven liters of water and earned five blisters. And great memories. 

The other day I listened to a couple who have been married sixty years. They laughed about some of the hardships they have endured over half a century. They looked in each other's eyes, remembering the steep parts.

The feeling you get from having climbed a mountain with someone you love cannot be fabricated, even by photoshop. I think the sweat has to be your own.