This weekend, I’m excited to be featuring three Summit County couples who not only met and fell in love here, but have also worked hard to build a life for themselves in the mountains. We all know that isn’t the easiest thing to do — especially when it comes to raising a family.

It was hard to choose just these three. I received a ton of submissions after posting a Facebook query. From meeting on the ski hill or at work, to concerts, bars and even Tinder, the community revealed to me how they met their loved ones. I feel incredibly privileged that you all were willing to share with me how you fell in love.

I, too, met my current partner of four years in Summit County. I had moved here in 2010 at the age of 25, and all of the guys I met were either too young for me, or acted like they were too young for me. Being a single lady in Summit has its perks, but the whole Peter Pan syndrome they talk about here — it’s real.

I wasn’t looking for love. It had only been two years since I lost my boyfriend of five years to cancer, and I was still grieving. Summit County was just a temporary escape from reality. I didn’t really think I had room in my heart for anything other than memories of him and the sadness I still felt — I looked at men as distractions instead of potential mates.

Like a lot of Summit County couples, Kevin and I met when we were both working at the ski resort. He was the executive chef at Ski Tip Lodge, I was the girl working in HR at the Employee Center. I had met him once before when I first moved to the county at an employee recognition event at the Ski Tip, but only for a brief minute. Two years later, at another Keystone employee function, I walked up to the bar at the Mountain House to order a beer. He was with a group of his coworkers, who began chatting with me. We eventually moved away from his friends for our own conversation — we liked the same music, I loved food — he had a real grown-up job.

He still tells the story about how I blew him off for three months after that before actually going out with him. I’m glad I finally opened my heart to him, because it would have been my loss. It feels good to be in love again.

Check out the first installment of a three-part series. It’s about how Orion and Betsy Paiement met as teens and then fell in love over a decade later. Saturday will feature Jason and Bree Thoma, and then on Valentine’s Day we have longtime locals Kevin and Patti Ahern from Breckenridge.

MUSIC

Summit Music and Arts is hosting a Valentine’s Day concert on Sunday at the Finkel Auditorium at the Colorado Mountain College in Breckenridge. Violinist Jerilyn Jorgensen and pianist Cullan Bryant will perform Sonata No. 6 in A, Op. 30 No. 1 by Ludwig van Beethoven; Sonata, Op. 11 No. 2 by Paul Hindemith; and Sonata in E-flat, Op. 18 by Richard Strauss. In true Feb. 14 form, there will be champagne and a wine cash bar with chocolate desserts. For tickets, go to summitmusicandarts.org or call (970) 389-5788.

THEATER

The Breckenridge Backstage Theatre brings the one-man show, “Clarence Darrow,” to the Old County Courthouse stage this weekend and the next two. David Casiano portrays the famous attorney whose work in the courtroom impacted the social and political fabric of the early part of the 20th century. To order tickets, visit backstagetheatre.org or call (970) 453-0199.