This blog begins with a story.

Several years ago, my friend Lisa did one of the most special things a friend has ever done for me. At the time, I had never been to Europe, but Lisa was an old pro. We talked for months about taking a trip together, and planned to go in the summer. But then she met (well, re-met) an awesome guy named John who is now her husband. John lived in Switzerland and she wanted to spend some time with him, sans her tagalong friend. I totally understood, but in the days leading up to Lisa’s trip to Europe, she didn’t return my calls.

When she got back to NYC, I learned that it was not because she thought I was upset with her for not taking me along on her trip. It was because Lisa can not keep a secret and she wanted what she was about to do to be a surprise. She knew how excited I was to go to Europe with her, so she arranged it so that I could accompany her and John on their trip to Switzerland, Austria and Hungary. When she got home, she sent me an e-mail full of photos detailing Flat Alyssa’s amazing European adventure. Poor John, who had not yet met Round Alyssa, was forced to tote several copies of a Flat Stanley paper doll with my face (dressed as Pink for Halloween 2002) around Europe while on a romantic trip with his girlfriend. They took me to Lake Geneva, to a German spa and to visit my first castles. When I finally made it to Switzerland to visit them after Lisa moved for good, I felt like I’d been there before.

Yesterday, I got to repay the favor.

FLAT ALYSSA VISITED SWITZERLAND WELL BEFORE ROUND ALYSSA EVER DID …

And, with that, another story.

Lisa has the most amazing grandpa, and if there is anyone I think Lisa has modeled her life after, it is her grandpa Lucas, who Lisa and her family call Extreme Grandpa. The last time I saw him, at Lisa and John’s wedding, he taught me to curl and went paragliding with us over the Swiss Alps. He skydived, traveled the world and was even a contestant on Deal or No Deal Canada a couple years ago. The guy lived. And he lived in Canada, where Lisa was born. So it goes without saying that he was a huge hockey fan.

Saturday afternoon, while I was at Cypress Mountain covering the debut of men’s skiercross, I learned that Lisa’s grandpa had passed away. It made me so unbelievably sad to think about how much he will be missed. But it made me smile to think about the passion with which he lived his life. There should be more Extreme Grandpas in the world.

Today, Lisa asked if I could take her grandpa to one final hockey game, since he unfortunately watched his last hockey game from a hospital bed. So, with a little help from some wonderful Olympic volunteers, a printer and a red marker, I was able to do that for her today.

If we are Facebook friends, then you can check out a longer photo story about our day. If not, here are a couple shots from our Olympic day together watching Teams USA and Canada get one step closer to playing each other in Sunday’s final. I think EG had a good time. I know I sure did.

SHOWING OUR CREDENTIALS TO GET INTO CANADA HOCKEY PLACE …

FINALLY INSIDE CHP FOR THE USA-SWITZERLAND GAME …

LINZ AND ME TAKING FLAT GRANDPA FOR A HOT CHOCOLATE …

MAN, FLAT GRANDPA MAKES FRIENDS EASILY. HERE HE IS CHEERING FOR THE HOME TEAM WITH HIS NEW LOCAL FRIENDS …