The Story of Heather And Phil
- Details
- August 26
Once upon a time, in a land far far away named the University of Western Ontario, in a classroom where students had come from far and wide to learn business, a young man sat on his 2nd day of University.
As the other students introduced themselves, the young man noticed one young lady in particular as she called out her name. He had some sort of instant reaction that told him she would one day be his wife. He knew that he needed to remember her name - Heather.
One day, in another classroom where they were learning economics, the young man tapped Heather on the shoulder. She turned around, and he introduced himself. He asked her if he could borrow her notes from the last class, since he had missed it (yes, this was the best he could come up with. What would you have said?). She said that she would bring them for him the next day, and they both went off to the rest of their day.
The next day, she brought the notes, but Phil did not turn up. She was not impressed, and over the next few days she noticed that this young man was actually in every single one of her classes. Since there were multiple instances of many of these classes, she found it interesting that they would have all of them together. She didn't speak with Phil again until the next year.
After the summer of their first year of university, they started the main focus of their program, which was learning how to fly. One day, Heather was sitting in math class eating an apple, and a friend sat behind her with Phil, starting them in their first conversation of more than 2 sentences.
Heather and Phil quickly became friends, and still had many of their classes together, especially as their classes got smaller and more focused on their flying program. Whenever she was sad, he somehow knew the right thing to say to cheer her up.
(Then there was this little argument and they didn't talk for perhaps 6 months, but we don't speak of that anymore.)
On Heather's first day back at school in their third year, she was walking across campus and heard someone running behind her. It was Phil, and although she was still annoyed with him he gradually worked his way back to being friends.
One day that year, Phil asked Heather if she wanted to go to a hockey game with him. Luckily for Phil, Heather had passed an important test in her flight program and was in a very fantastic mood so she agreed.
They started spending more and more time together, and it didn't take long for Heather to realize that she had fallen in love with this young man. He, of course, had been planning this all along but still felt his heart stop when she finally told him how she felt.
Their last year of University was perfection. They still had many of their classes together, and were able to have picnics for lunch under the trees on campus. They both worked at the front desk of their flight school, and spent a lot of time at the airport for flight lessons.
When they graduated in 2004, they decided to move to Kelowna, BC. They thoroughly enjoyed their time there. They even took a nice drive up to the Yukon before moving back to Ontario so Heather could begin her job as a flight instructor in Toronto, and Phil could begin his training to be an air traffic controller in Cornwall.
Fortunately, it didn't take them long to realize that this life was not for them. Sure, they would have more money by now had they stayed the course, but how boring!
They decided to move back out to BC. This time, they moved to Victoria. They started a little business and spent their summer doing gardening work. It was then that Heather developed a deep hatred for holly, ivy and periwinkle. These plants grow uncontrollably on Vancouver Island, and their root systems are incredibly unwilling to be pulled out.
After six months, they moved back to London and Phil started 'Only Organic'. Heather worked at a bank. Two years later, they moved back to Victoria and have spent the last 3 years there. Heather transitioned from the bank into politics. Phil started another business and did some organic horticulture teaching and learned a bunch of stuff about website development and online teaching.
Now, they have finally started 'Healthy Vegan Recipes' together and it could go in many directions, but they have a vision and are excited to be working towards it together.
The two have traveled across the country 6 times now, which may seem strange to some but they both love adventure. They also really enjoy the process of getting rid of most of their things so that their possessions fit inside a small car. They love being on the road together, and setting up at campsites across the country. Heather showed Phil the wonders of ants on a log, and Phil taught Heather how to drive standard so that he wouldn't have to drive all day on these trips.
Both Heather and Phil have changed in many ways since that first day in business class. It really does seem like a land far far away, and yet through all the changes and all the adventures they have only grown closer. They challenge each other to experiment and to balance - Phil likes to go to extremes, pushing Heather to try new things, and she brings him back. They support each other when their spirits are down.
Most importantly, after all this time, they are still each other's favorite person.
