Nannette's 68th Birthday

     Today would have been Nannette's 68th Birthday, so I thought that I would write a little something in honor of this occasion.

     There has been a lot going on in my life the last few years and this makes me think about how much I miss my mother as an advisor.  Like some many other mothers out there, she was always supportive and the biggest cheerleader to my sisters and I.  Somehow you always felt that no matter what problem might be plaguing you, that just by sharing it with her, you already half way solved it,  and you were then in a better state of mind to face the challenge.  She was, of course, there for the bumps, bruises, broken bones and broken hearts.  While my dad continues to have a wonderful business sense, it always felt good to get my mom's feedback and support.

     I think that my mother would be very proud of her grandkids today.  Anna and Sarah are both doing well in their schools and both just had their best report cards ever. They have both adjusted well to life post elementary school. I'm getting old, but I find it is really so hard to believe that Caitlin and Jake are close to graduating, Caitlin will do that this year and Jake still has a year to go.  Things are looking really good for Caitlin to get a scholarship and go on to college. It is also hard to believe that they both went through drivers education already! I also hear that Brendon is developing into quite a young man as well.  I sure miss seeing my family (especially on days like this).

     I think that my mother would be happy with what I've done with Toastmasters.  I've met some really great people. It is a very positive part of my life.  I was elected president of my club and am currently serving as president (till the end of June). I've found all kinds of ways to harness my creativity: by doing fun and exciting speech projects; becoming webmaster of my club's website; developing a social media plan; and countless other things. I started a podcast for Toastmasters in Europe and have interviewed and met lots of great Toastmasters as a result. I've met Olivia Schofield and gotten involved with Spectacular Speaking and am involved in promoting a wonderful conference that they have planned for March 14th and 15th in Warsaw, Poland. Six incredible speakers will work with the participants on: the proper way to prepare a speech or presentation; techniques for crafting and delivering a compelling story: using the stage effectively; finding their voice; and so much more. I'm pretty excited about the workshop, if you haven't figured that out yet.  

     I lost my job at HP in October last year.  I've given a lot of thought to what I want to do with my life, post HP, in fact I think about it pretty often. I'm currently working on opening a franchise, but I can't really get into the details about it just yet.  I see leaving HP as a chance to do something different with my life and really want to harness this opportunity.

     Mom, you were responsible for bring three people into the world and the resulting six grandkids.  You've left quite a legacy. I could sure use my trusted advisor and head cheerleader now.  Happy 68th Birthday!

     Note, the picture is of my mother with my Aunt Rose taken at my sister Nicole's wedding in 1995.  Sadly, Aunt Rose passed away last year.

John's 75th Birthday

It is with great joy that I honor my father, John Heron, on his 75th birthday. It is so hard for me to believe that my father is 75! So often we ask ourselves where did the time go? You've been so many things to so many things to so many people you've lived more than one life time in your life.

Yes, Dad where did the time go?  First you were a loving son and dependable brother. Being one of nine children you had to find your place in your childhood family. You often joked that he who ate the fastest got the mostest and that we should excuse your boarding house reach. It certainly was challenging feeding nine kids and being resourceful enough to clothe nine kids. How does one fit into a family of nine kids, not getting lost or overshadowed by all your brothers and sisters. When your father died you dropped out of high school because your family needed you to. Your family always knew that they could count on you.

You've always been an entrepreneur, before you even knew the meaning of the word and before the word was known by the public. You got work on a milk route, delivering milk to peoples homes and office buildings.  Later on, you got your own route.  When you saw the writing on the wall you sold your milk route and moved on.

Lots of people have quit school over the years but education meant something to you, so you got your GED.  Your desire to learn brought you down the path of becoming a Journeyman Plumber. You and Mom would tell us how she helped you study for that test. Over the years you've learned about lots of things and you tried to pass on to your kids that an education was an important thing. You tried to motivate all of us to go to college (something that I did).  You learned about the stock market. You've taken a few courses that you always threw yourself into, because education was so important to you.

Nicole, Heather, and I were all blessed to have you as our father. I think that you and Mom did a good job raising the three of us! When Nicole and I were very litte you wanted to get us out of the hustle and bustle of the big city into an enviroment where you thought that kids could be kids, so you bought the house in Livonia. Later on you decided that you wanted fresh air and room for us to be able to run around safely, so we moved to Ortonville. The two of you did so much for us. Parents teach us many things and have such an impact on our lives. You did your best to raise the three of us, something you can really be proud of.


Living in Ortonville, presented some challenges. 10 acres meant there was a lot of grass to mow and a lot of property to take care of.  You spent so much time with the old Ford tractor, mowing the law and just trying to keep it running.  Mowing the lawn often took up the better part of a Saturday.  When it snowed you had to plow the driveway.  I remember you hitting golf balls in the front yard.

 Grandpa with all the grandkids (2005)

I remember you and Mom welcoming your grandchildren;.Caitlyn, then Jake and Dallas into the world, like it was yesterday. This was the beginning of you being a grandfather, later there would be Anna, Sarah, and Brenden. Mom, loved kids much that we all knew that she'd be a great Grandma, it seems terribly unfiair that she was only a Grandma for only 5 years. This also meant that you loved all of your grandkids for the two of you!   There probably aren't too many grandfathers who aren't brimming with pride over their grandchildre and who love them to death, but you took on the role of a grandparent very well and are greatly loved by your grandkids. With Caitlyn and Jake taking drivers training last Summer, so now you've entered into new territory again.

I remember you and Mom flying to Germany for Christine and my wedding. the wedding rehearsal was pure chaos and Mom asked if there would be heat in the church for the wedding the next day. I was so glad that the two of you were able to make over for my wedding.  I'll never forget that carriage ride through Rothenberg ODT or so many of the things that happened in the time that the two of you were there for the wedding.  I know that this trip meant a lot to Mom as she always wanted to go to Europe. You and Mom really welcomed Christing into the family, this has meant a lot to her.

Fortunately, you've been able to visit us in Germany a few times. I remember when you visited us a few months after Anna was born. You were here again when we had Sarah's baptism. You and Aunt Betty have visited us a few times over here and we've had some really good trips with lots of memories.  I loved gong to Scotland with you and Aunt Betty, meeting family and actually being in Scotland after hearing so much about your family's ancestrail roots over there, so this was a real thrill for me. We've been lucky enought to have some memorable trips when you've visited us on this side of 'the pond' I can still smell that stinky cheese you bought in the Netherlands and that we brought back home. I  remember being in that glacier at the Top of Europe, with the memorable train ride there, as well as taking the train to Lugano the next day. Remember when we drove to the see the Castle in Neuschwanstein and we were all surpirsed by the snow in Austria?

Anna and Sarah really enjoyed their visit last Summer.  They'll never forget that week at the cabin and all the nice trips that we took while we were there, including the incredibily hot day when we went to Mackinac Island. I wasn't with Christine and the girls when they were in Michigan in 2010 so I can't really talk about Anna and Sarah's visit then but I can say that their visit was very memorable and had quite and impact on them.  I really hope that we're able to have many more visits like that before they grow up.

I've often been impressed by how much people love and admire you.  So many places  we'd go, lots of people were always glad to see you. People like to have you on their side.  You're a good brother to your siblings.

You've lived quite a life so far.  Heres hoping that your journey has lots of more trips, visits, memories, and lots of time and opportunity to share with the people that you love.  Happy Birthday.

Grandpa with Aunt Betty and a few grandkids (2012)

In honor of Dad's 75th birthday, I've started a board on Pinterest, feel free to have a look and if you have a picture of John that you'd like to share, let me know. 

Nannette's 64th Birthday

Today is Nannette's 64th birthday. She's been on my mind lately.

With the recent earthquake in Hatti, I'm reminded that she was a nurse and although she never did get the chance to volunteer I can picture her lending a hand there. Nurses in California have started a Send a Nurse Campaign to send nurses there to help.

I've also been thinking about how much she loved animals and how it was my fondness for Angus that largely led me to get a Bearded Collie for my family. Hobbit will be two tomorrow and we sure have enjoyed him and he is a big part of our family.

The past year has been kind of tough, it would be nice to be able to talk through some of the things on my mind with her. It might not have made a difference but there is always something reassuring about being able to talk to your mom. I haven't been able to do the kind of writing nor the quantity that I would have liked, but sometimes life takes you in directions that none of us ever would have planned, so I'm hoping that this ride won't disappoint.

You can see in the picture above that Grandpa is pretty young, Heather is even still a baby. How long ago that was!

I'm sorry that I don't have anything really spectacular to write this year, but I wanted to let you know that I was thinking about you and Happy Birthday, Mom.

Nannette's 63rd Birthday

I just wanted to wish Happy 63rd birthday to Mom.In honor of Mom's 63rd birthday I decided to create a collage.  What is displayed here doesn't show the time and effort that went into making this collage, but it was time well spent.

As projects kid of take you in directions that you'd never had thought or planned, so this was for me.  I started going through all the pictures that I had on my computer to find pictures of Mom that were good.  Unfortunately, I don't have so many pictures of here on my computer, so I was some what limited there.  I started with earlier pictures of Mom, as a young mother and as a young girl, and when I got to my wedding, after looking at several pictures I decided to make a collage of Mom at my wedding, because I had a lot of nice pictures of her and it was quite a memorable day.  I love the picture of Mom and Dad dancing.  It just says so much.

I recently discovered Blip.fm and I wrote about it at one of my blogs. In honor of Mom's birthday I "blipped" a few songs.  I'll put some links to them below.  I don't think that you have to join to hear them, but it doesn't cost anything to do so.  The first song that I "blipped" for Mom was American Pie.  I remember that I drove Mom and Dad crazy when we drove to Aunt DeeAnn's wedding and I sang the title song over and over all the way there.  I "blipped" a Don McClean version, as well as Madonna and Pearl Jam. Then I got into a Bobby McGee wave starting with a version from Janis Joplin, finding the Greatful Dead did a version, and adding a version from Melissa Etheridge, before "blipping" "Help Me Make It Through The Night" from Kris Kristopherson because he co-wrote the song.  I "blipped" "You Don't Bring Me Flowers" from Barbara Streisand and Neil Diamond, because I remember that Mom loved both of them. Here are the "Blips"...

• American Pie- Don McClean
• American Pie- Madonna version
• American Pie- Pearl Jam mix
• Bobby McGee- Janis Joplin version
• Bobby McGee- Greatful Dead version
• Bobby McGee- Melissa Etheridge version
• Help Me Make It Through The Night- Kris Kristopherson
• You Don't Bring Me Flowers- Barbara Streishand and Neil Diamond

Happy Birthday Mom! 

September 11th, Seven Years Later

In honor of the Seventh Anniversary of September 11th, I decided to become involved in Project 2996 and write about one of the victims. I have posted the article here. I just wanted to let everyone know that I was thinking about Mom. I have some catching up to do but I do plan to write a post in honor of the seventh anniversary of Mom's death.

Grandpa's 91st Birthday

Grandpa on his route Summer '79

May 19, 2008 was Grandpa’s 91^st birthday, I wanted to wish him a Happy Birthday. Since the post that I did for his 90th birthday was late, I didn’t want to let that happen again, so this post is more on time. I went to write something the other day and I was faced with writer’s block. This was contributed to by many factors, the biggest of which was all the things related to our backyard shed burning down. In honor of Grandpa’s 90^th birthday, I wrote a post that I was pretty proud of and now I was trying to think of what to write about.

Grandpa in one of those Lazyboys that he loved so much

This morning I was still kind of chewing on a conversation that I had with a colleague yesterday and it struck me that this colleague was an excellent salesman and that was something at Grandpa’s very core. Grandpa knew how to sell air conditioning. While air conditioning might have been what seemed to be “the product” that he was selling, when you look closer at any really good salesman, they’re selling themselves. The expression that he could sell air conditioning to an Eskimo is often used to describe the salesmanship ability of people used both in good and bad manners.

A young Grandma and Grandpa

I remember watching Grandpa on his route during the Summer of 79. I was amazed at how much his customers loved and respected him. Sure it looked like he was just meeting up to talk with friends and but his customers were all glad to see him and I know that his sales over the years reflected this. I know that this had to be built up over time, but I was watching an excellent salesman at work in his element. It is something special to see a true professional doing what they do best and seeing them at the top of their game.

Salesmanship seems to be somewhat of a lost art now a day. I know that a lot of us think about the slimy, dishonest, used car salesman or other people that have tried to push things off on us that we neither want nor need and it seems that so many people in sales just plain turn you off. Grandpa did not come off like this. The man I watched came off as genuine, who did not want to offer things to his customers that they didn’t want or need, he was a friend that they could trust. It is really too bad that he never wrote a book about selling. I’m sure it would have been a good one, which is sorely needed today.

Happy Birthday, Grandpa

Dad's 70th Birthday

March 16, is Dad's 70th birthday. I wanted to do something special at the blog to honor this occasion. I decided to put together a collage and when putting it together I decided to use some pictures from the trip that Dad, Aunt Betty, and I took to Paris. You can click on the picture to see it in larger form or you can right click on it to open it in a new window. There were some really nice pictures from that trip and it was an awesome trip. Dad's visit last Summer was a really great. I realize that we got to take some nice trips together and do some things that many fathers and sons don't do. It was so incredible for me to be with him in Scotland, to be able to see where his family comes from and to meet distant cousins was really great. Most of my life I have wanted to go to both of those places and to be able to visit them both with Dad is something that I won't ever forget!

It seems hard to believe that Dad is 70. I know that everyone gets older and all but when I think back to everyone that I have ever known that was over 70, Dad just seems so much more younger and active than that. I think that sometimes we peg a person in our mind at a certain age and no matter how much time goes by they're always that age when we think of them.

There are so many things about Dad that it is hard to figure out where to begin. I know that the Nicole, Heather, and I were blessed to have Dad as our father. There are so many people that don't have fathers or there fathers aren't an active part of there lives. Dad was always there for us growing up, we knew that we could count on him to be there without fail. Dad often said "Lord willing and the creek don't rise" (usually in a joking fashion), but it fits him.

When I think of the things that he has done for his family over the years, I can't help but be impressed. He dropped out of high school to take care of Grandma, Aunt Betty and Uncle Bob. Sure I know a lot of people have done that but it is impressive none the less. Later on he got his GED, which is already something that many people dropping out of high school have never done. So often you would hear Dad talk about the milk route of his with such pride. It was his own business and he was proud of it. Mom helped him study to pass his plumber certification. I know that there are a lot of skilled tradesman that have their certification, but I think that it shows distinction and determination to get that certification in your field. Dad has played the stock market for years. While part of that activity has been related to planning retirement, I know that the market is a hobby of his and he enjoys it (ok maybe not so much when some of his stocks are on the downside).

Happy Birthday, Dad!