#TBT (Working on the Next Thirty Years)

July 5, 2018 / Janna Hill / 3 Comments

In 1984 we said “I do”

12 years later we could still fit into our honeymoon clothes

A couple of years ago we got old…

Night Falls on the Newlyweds (Another Hill is Added to the Clan)

December 6, 2017December 6, 2017 / Janna Hill / 4 Comments

nightfall

Wedding thoughts: All I know about love

October 26, 2017October 25, 2017 / Janna Hill / 2 Comments

I recently came across a poem [yes poem] by Neil Gaiman. Not only was I pleasantly surprised, I was deeply touched.

The piece struck a chord with me because (sniff. snort. sigh.) our baby boy is getting married this year. Yes, the one I reminisced about a few years ago… pondering,

Where did the years go… Why won’t he let me rock him to sleep any more…or comb his hair… or at least find him a wife so he doesn’t have to live alone…

As a mother there are so many things I want to tell him… to prepare him… and then I realize I cannot. In Wedding thoughts: All I know about love Neil says it so well I just had to share it with y’all.

May your smiles forever sparkle in the prisms of your stone.

Wedding thoughts: All I know about love

Neil Gaiman poetry

This is everything I have to tell you about love: nothing.

This is everything I’ve learned about marriage: nothing.

Only that the world out there is complicated,

and there are beasts in the night, and delight and pain,

and the only thing that makes it okay, sometimes,

is to reach out a hand in the darkness and find another hand to squeeze,

and not to be alone.

It’s not the kisses, or never just the kisses: it’s what they mean.

Somebody’s got your back.

Somebody knows your worst self and somehow doesn’t want to rescue you

or send for the army to rescue them.

It’s not two broken halves becoming one.

It’s the light from a distant lighthouse bringing you both safely home

because home is wherever you are both together.

So this is everything I have to tell you about love and marriage: nothing,

like a book without pages or a forest without trees.

Because there are things you cannot know before you experience them.

Because no study can prepare you for the joys or the trials.

Because nobody else’s love, nobody else’s marriage, is like yours,

and it’s a road you can only learn by walking it,

a dance you cannot be taught,

a song that did not exist before you began, together, to sing.

And because in the darkness you will reach out a hand,

not knowing for certain if someone else is even there.

And your hands will meet,

and then neither of you will ever need to be alone again.

And that’s all I know about love.

Celebrating More than His Music

October 4, 2017October 4, 2017 / Janna Hill / Leave a comment

As you all know Tom Petty died Monday.

I was going through my playlist and realized his music was more than just music for me. (Hang on while I get a tissue)

Snort. Honk. Sigh.

I sat up late last night burning through my hard-drive and YouTube videos– singing along and remembering…

So many memories were made with Tom Petty doing his thing in the background.

The song that strums my heart strings even this morning and makes me have to blow my nose [again] is Built to Last. It is not in the top ranks of his repertoire but… sniff, sniff..

I can’t tell you how many times the husband and I have drank to it, danced [our own dance] by the water and watched the sun go down to the beat of that tune.

Each time the song subtly reminded me that I … that we are in this for the long run… that we are built to last.

So here’s to you honey: You don’t have to say anything — I know you’re there.

Here’s to us: and to sunsets and Tom Petty – all things I love more than I knew.

Crazy Conversations (Another Vacation)

August 12, 2015August 11, 2015 / Janna Hill / 5 Comments

Life is crazy, people are crazier and my family… well they get the crazy award if there is one.

Me: Something has come up and I have to go to Mexico.
Husband: What happened? Who do we know in Mexico?
Me: Our youngest daughter.
Husband: She is not in Mexico.
Me: But she will be.
Husband: Why is she going to Mexico?

Me: She has a week off and she needs to stamp her passport.
Husband: Well that makes all kinds of sense. Why didn’t you just say you are going on another vacation?
Me: I didn’t want to sound too frivolous.
Husband: You just got back from vacation, how’s that for frivolous.
Me: That was a road trip, it didn’t require a passport.
Husband: My lord old woman! How much is this going to set me back?
Me: A grand or two. Depends on whether you want a souvenir or not.
Husband: How much is a souvenir?
Me: I don’t know. That’s another reason I have got to get there – to find out.
Husband: Hmm. What part of Mexico are we talking about?
Me: Puerto Vallarta.
Husband: Why not Cozumel or Cabo?
Me: They are too Americanized.
Husband: And Puerto Vallarta isn’t?
Me: Not as much, I hear. If you insist, I could go to Cabo and Cozumel but I would need more time and money.
Husband: If you’re going to stay on the Pacific, I like Huatulco. I bet it has changed a lot since we took the kids – that was what, twenty years ago?
Me: Twenty-one I believe.
Husband: The Cancun beaches were nice… wasn’t there a hotel at Chitchen Itza? She hasn’t seen the Mayan ruins there, has she? I wonder how far they’ve come with the reconstruction.
Me: Goodness man! If you want me to go to Cancun, Chitchen Itza, Huatulco, Cabo, Cozumel and Puerto Vallarta I will be gone for a month or more – Her vacation is only one week. I would have to go alone and I would miss you terribly, wouldn’t you miss me?
Husband: Of course I would. Yeah, you should come on home when baby girl’s vacation is over. I guess you’ll need a manicure, a pedicure, new clothes and a hair coloring?
Me: Nope. I’m going au’ naturel and wearing my every-day clothes.
Husband: You’re not going to cover up all that gray hair? What about those garden toes—you know the last pedicure you got they made fun of your beat up old feet.
Me: Oh, shut up and mix your drink.
Husband: Ahh, that was funny, “you have a garden, yes?” I can’t believe you plopped those mud stained number nines in front of that poor fella. With all of your calluses and cracks — no wonder it took him an hour. You couldn’t pay me to do his job. Who are you calling? Are you calling the beauty shop?
Me: No, I am calling my travel agent.
Husband: Oh, come on. I was just picking at you. Are you going to cancel your trip?
Me: Au contraire monsieur, I am going to extend my itinerary to include all of the places you suggested.
Husband: Salt water and sand do work miracles. You better keep those feet in the water as much as you can.