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Crazy for love

What's the craziest thing you've done in the name of LOVE?

Ahhh, what we do for love.

Who hasn't entertained a few crazy ideas to capture the attention of a love interest or keep the fires of a long-time love alive? For many, the ideas stay trapped in the imagination, but for others it's full steam ahead.

Pique received hundreds of entries this year in our "Crazy for Love" contest in which we asked readers to share the stories of the craziest things they had done for love.

There were so many great tales it was difficult to choose our favourites — We hope you enjoy the stories the winners and runners-up have to share... And you never know, perhaps you will even find some inspiration.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Package 1 winner

Ten years ago, my girlfriend and I travelled to Italy and the Aeolian islands during summer recess from school. We visited the Colosseum in Rome, got lost wandering the streets of Venice, ate pizza in Naples... a wonderful time. We spent three days on the island of Lipari, an amazingly picturesque, tranquil place, with spectacular beaches. One such beach was a bus ride away, and we decided to go. On arrival, we were greeted by endless white sand and calm, clear, turquoise ocean, with nobody in sight. We got our swim gear on and jumped in... paradise! Suddenly, my girlfriend screamed — she had been stung by a jellyfish. I got her out of the water and she had been stung badly on her arms and legs! We worried it might serious... I'd heard of people treating jellyfish stings using vinegar but we had no vinegar! Remembering the Friends episode when Joey peed on Monica after she was stung by a jellyfish we thought... hmm, it's acidic! (like vinegar!). So, on the deserted beech, I peed on my girlfriend... in case you wondering, it works! Three months later my girlfriend and I were watching TV with our school friends when that Friends episode was on. We laughed secretly but never told the story until now!

- Mark Gleeson (Prize description)

Package 2 winner

In the early '90s I had fallen hard for Bjorn, a Norwegian flight attendant. He was returning home from a European flight and I thought that it would be a nice surprise to greet him at the airport. I had read an article in a girlie magazine on "how to blow your man's mind" where the writers suggested showing up in a public area dressed only in a trench coat and sexy boots. At the time I was extremely conservative, so after a few glasses of wine, and consoling myself with the fact that I was catching the airporter bus late at night, I dolled myself up and headed to the Halifax airport. As my bus was arriving at the Arrivals' gate I noticed Bjorn exiting the airport and heading to his car. His flight had arrived early. I had arrived too late! As luck would have it, I had not come prepared with enough money to return back to Halifax on public transit, as I had assumed I would be returning with Bjorn in his car! I now had to find my way home with a stranger. Dressed like a, well... you know. After approaching a few people in the airport parking lot and having cars speed off, a friendly woman finally agreed to drive me back to town. I explained my full story to her with complete embarrassment. She then revealed that she had been Bjorn's supervisor on the flight. I wanted to die at that moment...

- Yasmin Waddell (Prize description)

Package 3 winner

The craziest thing I have done for love was in March 2010. I had planned a trip to Bali with a group of friends for a 20th birthday. I had been dating my girlfriend at the time for two months when I booked the trip. I was already missing her by the time I had left, and on the second night, after hours of heavy drinking and partying, I decided it would be a brilliant idea to jump on a scooter with a Bali local and get to the nearest tattooist and get a tattoo for her. I was in no state to decide the tattoo, so I let the tattooist make the call. I woke up the next morning to find her full name on my foot, with two manly love hearts on each side of the tattoo. I had told her I had a big surprise for her on my return — and she was definitely surprised to say the least! After two years together we decided to move here to Whistler and are still very much in love. I still have the tattoo to this day. It is definitely the craziest thing I have done in the name of love... so far.

- Brad Kirkwood (Prize description)

Package 4 winner

When I was 15, my boyfriend of three weeks (a veritable eternity, when one is in the 11th grade) dumped me out of the blue. He was my first real love, so I was completely devastated. I mean, how could this have happened?! We had waltzed to the Star Wars theme dressed in Jedi robes! If that's not love, what is? I had to know why he no longer considered me girlfriend material, so I did what any rational teenage girl would do, I created a fake account on that old ICQ chat program and friended him. I made my fake persona the absolute COOLEST character I could conceive of. She was from California. She was an actress. Her name was Rian (I misspelled Rain). Under the guise of "Rian," I chatted with the ex-boyfriend for weeks... ferreting out information on his thoughts on me, what he considered the "perfect woman" (as far as I was concerned, I was it), and anything else. I became pretty obsessed with the whole thing... then one day, of course, he "figured out" that it was me. Turned out he had actually figured it out within seconds, and was screwing with me to teach me a lesson. Of course, he didn't leave it at that... oh no. He had his parents call the school and file a complaint about my stalking him. I got pulled into a big meeting with my mum and the school administrators, who told me that I was legitimately scaring the ex, and that if I didn't cut it out and leave him alone immediately, I'd be kicked out of school. Everyone knew about the fiasco in minutes, of course, and I was left utterly humiliated. This story does have a happy ending, however... it turns out I was absolutely right, it was love. About two years later we got back together to the surprise and amusement of all those around us. That was 10 years ago, and we're now happily married, and the proud parents of a gorgeous six-month-old boy. To this day, however, he still has me saved in his mobile phone as "Rian."

- Dayna Wilson (Prize description)

Package 5 winners

The craziest thing that I have done for love happened last year during a trip to France. I was "surfing" a dating site on a chilly, rainy evening when up came a woman who did lots of mountain sports, and was an artist living in the Sea to Sky corridor and in southwest France. It was quickly determined that she would be arriving in France in two days — that was after I was scheduled to leave. I changed my ticket to stay longer and a few days later found myself at the arrivals gate at Paris's Charles De Gaulle airport carrying a long white cane, wearing oversize dark glasses and sporting a heart shaped sign around my neck that read "CHRISTINA'S BLIND DATE." The moment of truth arrived and we caught a cab into Paris for a classic café lunch, grabbed champagne, then boarded a first class train for a 10-hour trip to her hideaway in the beautiful French countryside, arriving in a pounding rainstorm at midnight. The next morning, after looking around, I said, "sign me up for this part of your life." As they do, one thing lead to another, we spent three-and-a-half months together in France, and will be married in March.

- Ross Smith (Prize description)

"Crazy Love" — a two-way conversation on the path to love

HE: A rainy day in Madrid. An interesting profile. A wolf pack query.

SHE:  A sunny day in Whistler. A newly opened dating account. A strange email about wolves. A cute profile pic.

HE: Let's meet!

SHE:  Flying to Paris on June 1, 2012.

HE: Returning to Whistler June 1, 2012.

SHE: Crossing planes over the Atlantic — wasn't meant to be.

HE: I'll change my plane ticket for three days, we'll see each other at Gate 2A Charles De Gaulle!

SHE: I'll be too tired, too frazzled, too smelly, and I am arriving to a flooded house, after a 10-hour train ride and a 12-hour drive to get to work.

HE: Sounds perfect!

SHE: Arriving at Gate 2A, tired, frazzled and smelly, and someone bumps into me and taps me with a cane.

HE: I am her "blind date," having stood there with a white stick and a big red heart claiming her as mine.

SHE: We travel for three days. He's perfect.

HE: The wedding is on March 15, 2013.

- Christina Nick (Prize description)

Package 6 winner

I met her in a hammock in the idyllic town of Byron Bay, Australia. After a year travelling in a campervan we were completely in love but living on borrowed time. With a nearly expired visa I was forced to return to Canada while she had to stay for a wedding the following month. We planned to fly on the same day — myself to Canada and she to Adelaide for the wedding. We had a tearful goodbye. I went through to the international departures area and she waited for her flight. It hit me as I was waiting in the airport lounge that this could be the end of our relationship — I couldn't let it go! A frantic scramble ensured and I was able to book a seat on her flight. I had to hide in the washroom for three hours to keep the surprise! I was last to board and during the flight I was able to conspire with the crew who were touched by my story! What a shock she got when she was asked to move seats and saw me! I overstayed my visa by a month and now we are living the dream in Whistler together!

- Jonathan Getty (Prize description)

Package 7 winner

I was 14 at high school in Australia. My first girlfriend and I had a fight at school and I was in the bad books. That afternoon I called her house. Her mum said she didn't want to speak with me. I tried and tried again, but she still didn't want to talk. I begged my Mum to drive me the 20 kilometres to her house to try and smooth things over, but she wouldn't, as it was late. So I snuck out of my house at around 9 p.m. at night with some chocolates I stole from the fridge, a card out of mum's office and some flowers from of the garden. I got on my push-bike and started pedalling my very unfit teenage body the 20km with no light on my bike. I reached halfway when mum found me in her car — I was struggling at this point so I was happy to see her! I asked mum to drive me the rest of the way, but to park around the corner so I could ride up to my girlfriend's door. Her mum only let me in to get me water but we smoothed things over!

- Matt Jackson (Prize description)

Package 8 winner

Many people will probably submit stories about travelling hundreds of miles in a crazy amount of time, or pulling a crazy stunt for love. The craziest thing I have ever done for love just makes me look plain crazy. Period. Four years ago I was working at a wedding trade show. After hours of boredom and much coaxing from the bridal shop booth I agreed to try on "white evening gowns." Suddenly I was dressed head-to-toe in full bridal regalia, right down to the bouquet in my ring-less hands. The perfectly fitting dress was $100, down from $850. Now, I am not someone who has dreamed of her wedding day since she was a little girl, but god damn it, I LOVE A BARGAIN! My lovely boyfriend (of four months) was quite suspicious of my garment bag reading "Lisa's Bridal." He didn't buy the story about a "toga party costume" for a second. Most men would have run for the hills, but instead we are running to the alter this summer. And you can be sure that I will proudly wear my $100 bargain. Crazy or not... I knew he was the one long before the $100 dress.

- Jen Carroll (Prize description)

Runners Up...

The craziest thing I've done for love (or in anticipation thereof): When I was 19, I worked "up country" as a CP Telecom lineman. One stormy night I was dispatched to repair some downed communications lines. As I drove the back roads of Salmon Arm, stumbling through the downed trees, under lines, I thought about a girl I wanted to date some 400 miles away. Louise and I grew up in North Vancouver — her brother Dave would later be my best man. I had made some terrible approaches to Louise and nothing had come of it. As I climbed one more telegraph pole, clearing trees, splicing wire and getting nowhere, I realized that one pair of intact wires ("yes," open copper wire) served BC TEL. After getting soaked and receiving endless electric shocks, I thought "I could call" my prospective girlfriend/fiancée/wife right from the top of this 50-foot telegraph pole — so I did. After five minutes convincing Louise who and why I was calling (For a date? From my brother's best friend? Why?) she said, "yes." Back at Revelstoke about 5:00 a.m. I had two feelings of accomplishment: 1) I'd fixed the CP "Com" link to the coast and 2) I'd got a date with my future wife. A good night's work.

- Brian Buchholz

This is about what my hubby did for me on our first Valentine's together. A week before we were looking in a pet store, we saw ferrets and I told him I have been scared of them since childhood. On Valentine's I got home and he told me to sit down and close my eyes. To my surprise, my hubby put a ferret in my hands. I screamed and ran out of the room. He admits that he was not listening to me that day in the pet store and thought I said I loved ferrets and always wanted one. We ended up keeping it and I got over my fear of ferrets.

- Must love ferrets

The craziest thing I've done for love? Leave my job, sell my car and move 7,343 kilometres to Canada after spending a total of 16 days with the man I love! It all started when I came to visit a friend in Whistler for a holiday. I met Dan in my last few days in Whistler and I instantly knew I was in trouble, we spent one day together visiting the sights of Whistler, and the next day in Vancouver for the first game of the Stanley Cup final! On his return to the U.K. I agreed to meet him at the airport and then fly straight to Istanbul for our first date! Over the next few months we only saw each other once or twice because of the distance between our homes in the U.K. When he asked me to join him in Canada we had only spent 16 days together in total but I knew in my heart it was the right thing to do. Booking my flights and handing in my notice at work I left for Whistler. It was the craziest and best decision of my life! Almost two years on we are still going strong.

- Hayley Armitage

While working at a hotel in a quaint mountain town in Alberta, I met a girl who worked in the spa. She was from B.C. and I from Ontario. We hit it off and had great chemistry, but unfortunately for us she was leaving for Kenya to volunteer at an orphanage for young girls. Despite our strong feelings toward each other, she was reluctant to begin a new relationship, as she was soon to embark on a trip around the world to a remote part of Africa, with no plans to return to our quaint little mountain town. Instead of letting her slip away, and quite possibly never seeing her again, I wasted no time in throwing caution to the wind and I bought a flight to Nairobi. After a couple more months and many vaccines, I met her in Kenya at the end of her volunteering, quitting my job in the process because I could not get time off. It has been almost two great years now gallivanting around the world and we are happy to celebrate our second Valentine's Day together in Whistler!

Trevor M.

On August 7, 2012 I, Derek Mendonca, decided to ask my girlfriend to marry me. So when I woke on that day I just had to set it up. First, I placed a note and three roses for her outside her bedroom that told her to meet me at the place where we met — which was Dusty's for a Super Bowl party. When she got there she found another note and roses that told her to go to the base of the Whistler gondola. There she found a third note with more roses. This time the note told her to go to the lift that takes you to the top of the world. At the Peak Chairlift there was a final note with more roses that told her to go to the top and get her final twelve roses. And that's where I met her, wearing a suit, and I got down on one knee gave her the twelve roses and asked her to marry me, and she didn't hesitate to say "YES."

- Derek Mendonca

The craziest thing I have ever done for love was to let him go. It was over a year ago that my Australian boyfriend of five years told me he missed home and that he wanted something different. Whistler wasn't cutting it for him anymore; it was time for him to leave. I didn't ask him to stay or ask him why. I let my best friend, my soulmate, walk out the door without any protest. At the time it was my biggest regret. How I could I just let him go? I decided to work on myself, focus on my goals, volunteer in my community and reexamine what I wanted in my life. After four months of no contact with my now ex-boyfriend (who was still in Whistler), I finally agreed to meet him for a drink. I had it all planned out. I wore my best outfit, got my hair done and played out the possible scenarios in my head. Fantasizing that should he want me back, I would tell him to eat his heart out! When I saw him for the first time, my heart melted, as soon as I saw those crystal blue eyes. It didn't take long to hear that I was missed, that it was the biggest mistake of his life and that his life just wasn't the same with out me. I was flabbergasted. I wasn't sure what to do. A couple weeks went by, I pondered and wondered if I could accept someone back into my life that hurt me so badly. Fate obviously felt I needed a little push in the right direction. I had a freak accident, which left me with a completely dislocated patella, torn PCL and meniscus with 11 stitches. My ex-boyfriend came to my rescue! He took care of me, physically, emotionally and financially. He never left my side and gave me everything I needed. His time away allowed him to grow and figure out what he really wanted out of life. Now there is no doubt in either of us, we know we love each other very much and what we have is very special. I was crazy to let him go, but now I know I have my best friend back forever. Love you babe!

- Kara Thornton

Everyone has done crazy things for love — from sending secret, anonymous love letters, to casually stalking a love interest in hopes of "accidentally" running into that crush — all crazy acts from the irrational heart. But the craziest thing I ever did for love was to use my head instead of my heart — I boldly created an excel spreadsheet listing all the characteristics of a perfect love: a great smile, funny, but not silly, smart, etc. I know, it doesn't sound too crazy at all but think about it — a girl in her studio apartment on her MacBook studiously making a excel list of all the characteristics of a great love. I revisited the list several times reorganizing and editing it until it was polished. Once the list was done I forgot about it. Eight months later I met a handsome guy in Village Square and the sparks flew! Then one day while on my MacBook I came across the list again — reading it I was shocked — he was everything on the list, just as I had described him. A spreadsheet for love — yes it's the craziest thing I have ever done!

- Jehanne Burns

Declarations of Love...

Our readers doing crazy things for love right here, right now!

In my attempt to spend time with my newly developed crush, I tried to invite him anonymously, via text, to a party.

Me: Hey! Free cheeseburgers, come and party.

Him: Free cheeseburgers? Who is this?

Me: Wait, who is this?

Him: You texted me about free cheeseburgers?

Me: Oh! I’m texting on behalf of my friend, I just realized I have the wrong number, but you should come anyway, it’s free cheeseburgers!

Him: I can’t, but have a good time.

Fail. Now what? Interestingly, his friends showed up and I suggested that they invite him. I offered to call him, and asked for his number. “You’re kidding me! I was texting this number by accident” and I explained the “cheeseburger” story. In the end, he came to the party and I explained the funny “mistaken” number conversation. He even labelled me as “free cheeseburgers” in his contacts. We have been friends ever since but, I have never told him that I liked him as anything more. Three years later I still feel the same way.

Craziest love thing I have ever done? Telling him how I feel for the first time, in the Pique.

- “Free Cheeseburgers”

 

This is the craziest thing I’ve done in the name of love — written this letter to the Pique to be published in the February 14 edition. I told you Sarah that you should read the Valentine’s contest in Pique. Today I’m going to tell you my feelings, here. When I met you for the first time at ESL school I wasn’t conscious of you. But your unconditional kindness was really fascinating to me. Now, seeing your smile at school in the morning is the most favourite moment for me. I’ve never felt this way before. I want to tell you. I love you Sarah. I love you. Today, I’m waiting for you at the bus stop you usually use. I’d like you to come there if your answer is, YES.

- Tatsuya Kumakiri



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