A Heffron Holiday

We had a wonderful holiday season with our family and friends. The best gift was getting to spend so much time with Chris, Tovi, Thomas, Patrick, Fisher & Livi Heffron. Two weeks before Christmas, they came to stay with us here in Tallahassee. Then, the day after Christmas, they visited us in Richmond. Good times were had by all!

Happy Birthday, Baby. Oh, I Love You So ...

Thirty one candles, makes my heart so bright. You're only thirty one, but girl it feels so right!

Dearest Melissa,

With just one leg left to stand on (now you can be on Dancing with the Stars), too many places to call home, and only one suitcase (with wheels) to hold all your worldly belongings, you continue on your journey to live on, love on and laugh on.

All I can say is that I love that you picked me as your buddy to share this wild ride with.

On this note, I am reminded a scene from the movie "Say Anything," in which two love-struck teens are about to take a tremendous leap of faith.

"Nobody really thinks it will work, do they?" she asks.

"No," he replies. "You just described every great success story."

This is our story, too. And every birthday is both a milestone and tribute to the two people who are dedicated to making it the greatest success story ever told.

Happy birthday, baby. Oh, I love you so.

Teacakes ... one of life's little treasures.

My relationship with my Granny is awesome! And, I love her so much that it would take forever to describe how wonderful she is and why I love her so. And, maybe someday I'll dedicate a blog to do just that. But, the purpose of this blog is to share a really fun day that I had last week.

I rarely take off in the middle of the day to do something fun. However, I've really been needing some "Granny" time and last week my cousin's daughter, Lexi, was out of school for fall break. Granny and I had the idea that we should get together and make teacakes.

Teacakes are sort of a tradition for us. I don't really know why or how it got started (I should ask). All I know is that it is one of those indelible memories - just thinking about it conjures up images of flour floating through the air, the feel of gooey dough on your fingers, the smell in the kitchen, Granny's hands guiding mine as I cut all those dozens of teacakes with a teeny coke glass for a cookie cutter and the sound of her voice saying "now get real close to the edge" or "pat some of that flour off ... that's too much." And, I can't think of teacakes without my cousin Lori or my little brother Christopher, being in all of the memories.

Anyway, when Granny mentioned teacakes, I immediately called Lori and she arranged to take the day off ... who would miss this! I looked forward to the event all week. On Thursday at lunchtime, after working really hard during the a.m. to make up for taking the afternoon off, I drove to Camilla, Georgia where my Granny lives. The whole way I could hardly stand the excitement. When I arrived, Lori and Lexi were already in the kitchen getting started. And, this is what I saw ...

I was overwhelmed with a sense of happiness to know that something that was (and still is) so special to Lori and to me was being shared with Lexi. And, making teacakes with Granny is just one example. Everytime I see Granny and Lexi together, it's like looking back in time. I see myself wrapped in Granny's arms and showered by her attention and love.

Thursday was one of those days in life that I knew for sure that I was blessed and I will treasure it forever.

Our Man in the Moon

Heaven knows our man in the moon knows.

He knows that his eyes are the exact place in space and time where your eyes and my eyes connect no matter where in the world either of us might be.

He never closes his eyes, knowing full well how critical that connection is.

He sees to it that we are together no matter how far apart we might be, that even our whispers reach the other’s ears and that our hearts beat as one.

He caresses us in his warm glow and brings us the comforting promise that as long as he shines we will find our way back into each other’s arms.

To the moon that brought us together, was with us when I proposed (an Melissa accepted!) in New Orleans, showed up full and bright on our wedding night in Cinque Terra, Italy, as it did on our first anniversary on the north rim of the Grand Canyon, I express my gratitude and love.

You are our connector. Thanks, our man in the moon, for a stellar job well done.

And, to Melissa, whose hair is the color of moon glow, happy second anniversary. I love you and look forward to being at your side for many, many moons to come.

Discovery

"At times it is bewildering and dangerous; at times enchanting.
In spite of it all, the journey is a symbol of hope. It sets a person free from the world as given, as pat, as total. The journey gives each traveler an awareness of the impermanence of the present situation." - Joel C. Sheesley, Artist

Melissa and I both call our relationship a journey. We have determined that it doesn't have to have, nor does it have, a destination. In fact, our journey has become our destination.

Our story has untold chapters written that we keep safely tucked away in our hearts, minds and souls. And, we have untold chapters left to write. Our stories run the gamut of emotions, lessons learned and discoveries .... discoveries about ourselves, our relationship and the world we live in.

It is the discoveries that keep us going. We aren't afraid to peek around the next corner, or go where angels fear to tread. We don't take no for an answer ... or yes for that matter. We pack a lot of questions. And the questions often become the answers. We don't seek the security of safe places, thoughts or ideas ... we search for roads less traveled.

Our goal is to make a difference. Our passion is to find personal and spiritual fulfillment in each other and the people we touch. Our commitment is to do it together.

Living on, loving on and laughing on ... that's what bonds us. Our rings are a symbol of that bond.

To say we don't have our own trials and tribulations would not be honest. After all, we have the ultimate excuse, we are human. But we also have the wisdom to know the affect they could have on our journey are determined to not let them become more than speed bumps along the way.

The thing that I admire most about T&M is that we recognize we are far greater than the sum of our parts. We challenge each other to do the right thing, to know our priorities, to be true to our values, and to not go it alone.

The only other call to action I would add to our quest is to "learn on".

We learn from our work, we learn from our play, we learn from our students, we learn from our families and we learn from the world we live in.

And, after all is said and done, our legacy will be determined by how we do on our journey. That's exciting and daunting all at the same time.

A mirror will be our conscience as well as the light that will show us the way.

The ultimate success of our journey, our legacy if you will, will be a story whose end might be found in the beginning and whose beginning might lie in its end.

October - My Favorite Month

October is just days away and is by far my favorite month of the year!

Let me count the reasons ...

1. There's a coolness is the air in the mornings and evenings
2. My Dad's birthday is on the 3rd
3. Our wedding anniversary is on the 7th
4. Becca's birthday is on the 26th
5. Scott's birthday is on the 27th
5. My birthday is on the 30th - I'll be 31
6. Halloween is one of my favorite holidays (probably because it's the day after my birthday)
7. Carving pumpkins
8. Candy corn
9. Fall festivals - too bad no one bobs for apples anymore :(
10. Costumes
11. October kicks off holiday season ... the rest of the year is just one big party

And, did I mention that this October, Tom and I are traveling to amazing places. This week, Tom will be working in Corpus Christi and Cincinnati.



Next week, he'll be in Destin and I'll be in Red Rock Canyon, just outside of Las Vegas. And, then, we meet up in Montreal. This will be my first trip to Canada. We're going to be working there, but we decided to add on a few extra vacation days. In the spring, we did the same thing when working out in Portland and it was fabulous.

What a perfect time of year to launch our blog. There are so many great trips planned and so many family occassions to look forward to. This blog is going to be the perfect way to share what we're up to. There's sure to be lots of living, loving and laughing!

Stay tuned ....