AUTHOR: Shannon, you were a virgin when you first met Geoff, right?
SHANNON: Well, most guys are intimidated by a girl who can throw a softball at almost 90 mph.
GEOFF: I didn’t know you could throw a softball or that you were a virgin.
SHANNON: I didn’t want you to know. I wanted you to think I was sophisticated.
GEOFF: You were sexy as hell. If I had known...
AUTHOR: If you had known, what would you have changed about your first meeting?GEOFF: I wouldn’t have been intimate with her. The first time should be special --
SHANNON: LOL! And I would have become a thirty-one-year-old virgin. If we changed our first meeting, maybe we wouldn’t have gotten together fifteen years later.
AUTHOR: A lot happened in those fifteen years.
SHANNON: I became a physical and music therapist for kids who have been abused or were born with disabilities.
AUTHOR: And suffered a miscarriage.
SHANNON: Yeah. I would change that if I could.
GEOFF: We could have had a child together. I’ll always regret that I was so callous all those years ago.
AUTHOR: You both had some rough times in the fifteen years before you met again. Geoff, you found out about a daughter.
GEOFF: Mandy. For too short a time, she was the light of my life. I tried to give her everything I didn’t have when I was a kid.
SHANNON: You built M’s Playground for her. An incredible facility that you opened up to other kids with disabilities.
AUTHOR: Your daughter made you promise not to let the music die when she died.
GEOFF: That’s what led me back to Shannon. Seeing the work she was doing with kids and music therapy gave me the perfect idea to honor that promise to Mandy.
AUTHOR: So you set up a music therapy program at M’s Playground.
GEOFF: Gambling that Shannon would see reason and come run it for me. *grin*
AUTHOR: SONGS OF THE HEART begins when you meet for the second time. Where were you at that point in your life?
GEOFF: Grieving my daughter and trying to fulfill the promise I had made not to let my music die. That seemed nearly impossible since I hadn’t touched a keyboard or written a song since she had died two years earlier.
SHANNON: Grieving takes time. After I miscarried Geoff’s child, I was determined my career would help children in some way. That’s what led me to a job at Talmidge Center for Children with the promise of setting up a music therapy program of my own.
AUTHOR: The fundraising event for that program is where you met again.
GEOFF: I choked on a song and Shannon saved my musical butt by stepping in and singing with me.
SHANNON: And then I ran. I thought I had left the past behind and it terrified me that seeing Geoff made me feel like a teenager with a crush on a rock star again.
AUTHOR: Yet you worked through the heartache of the past and found the music of love again.
SHANNON: I wasn’t sure we would make it.
GEOFF: I knew all along you’d see things my way. *grin*
SHANNON: The physical attraction was never a problem.
GEOFF: Want to see if that physical attraction still works?
SHANNON: I like the way you think.
AUTHOR: Wait! You’re supposed to draw the winner of the Romance Basket...well, never mind. I’ll do it.
10 comments:
OK, we're back with Geoff and Shannon to answer several questions posed by Larenda.
First, for Geoff: What three traits would Shannon use to describe you?
Well, I hope loving is on that list. *grin* Shannon is also very aware of my sensitive side. She’d probably also toss in creative.
And for Shannon: What three traits would Geoff use to describe you?
Oh, wow! He’s too kind to say “mouthy,” so he would probably describe me as having strong opinions. I think he would also say I’m passionate -- about him and about anything I undertake. One more, right? Loyal -- no, that makes me sound like a boy scout. Well, yeah, let’s stick with loyal.
And a second question for Geoff: Who are your heroes?
My heroes are kids who are challenged with disabilities or imperfect families, but still pursue their dreams.
Thank you, Geoff. And one more question for Shannon: What is the best thing about working with children to help them heal?
My answer is very close to Geoff’s answer about heroes -- it’s helping kids pursue their dreams.
Geoff and Shannon, thank you both for visiting with us. We're going to take a break and be back at 4:00 a.m. to talk with Jasper and Mitch.
See you then!
Geoff and Shannon thanks for answering my questions.
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