The end of 2017 is quickly approaching, but before they flip on the house lights, and we wake up to 2018, I want to share my top five memorable moments of this fabulous year that was…
January 28th
Walking out of the terminal at Vancouver International Airport and seeing Marion standing in a crowd waiting for me. He looked happy and nervous standing there in his new slightly fitted cargo pants, layered top layers, and my Sorels, (we wear the same size shoe, one of the perks of marrying a large lady). My heart hit the floor when I saw him; we hadn’t seen each other in over four weeks, because he was working on the Lost In Space shoot in Vancouver. We had been apart on a handful of occasions over the years due to his job, but this time felt different. I was handling it just fine. I was not nearly as upset as I had been in the past, and had quickly adopted a routine that made the time move along quickly, but when I saw him in the flesh that late afternoon after passing through customs, my heart broke.
I couldn’t imagine how I had, or would be able to say “goodbye” to him again.
Marion on an average day in Vancouver.
We had a wonderful time together that weekend, and he flew home a couple more times, (one trip to Vancouver was enough for me), before his stint was finished on set, and he was home for good at the end of March.
Lost In Space will be streaming on Netflix soon… Stay tuned for exact release information.:)
February 3rd
Sitting in the Chapel of Alemany High School listening to Hannah through muffled tears tell me, and everyone else in the crowded chapel, school officials, her peers, and their parents, that she appreciated everything I did for her over the years, and was sorry for her teenager-esque attitude throughout most of high school.
Thinking about that night now, nearly a year later, makes me well up, but how I felt in that moment was the absolute essence of joy, sadness, and pride. It took every ounce of will power not to run up and give her a hug, but I played by the rules of the Kairos retreat she had just returned from, and simply sat, listened, clasped her mother’s hand to keep me steady, and cried.
I knew in that moment that I had played a role in shaping this beautiful, strong, and compassionate human being standing in front of us, and that she was ready to graduate high school and step out into the world.
Hannah and her wicked step-mother celebrating on graduation day.
July 15th
Carefully running/hiking down Mt. Alyeska a few miles from the finish line of Alaskaman, safely in 3rd place, I assumed, and then being passed by an Alaskan mountain goat, err, amazing athlete, named Shannon. In an instant my mind flipped from cool confidence to crushing disappointment. I knew my cramped up, debilitated left leg would not let me catch her, and my hopes of finishing on the podium were destroyed.
What clicked for me in that heart-wrenching moment was that I was not just participating, I was racing, and doing well meant a lot; more than I thought it would when I was training for the race, or even when I started the race before the sun rose that morning. I could not let that feeling go, not when I finished the race, when I arrived home, or any hour or day that has passed since.
It made an impression.
This is at the top of the first ascent, Shannon passed me about 15min. later. Photo courtesy of Sarah Fox and expert editing props go to Lauren Palmer.
October 29th
Punching the pace arrows up on the treadmill from 7.5mph to 8.1mph, and watching with bugged out eyeballs that I would be going from 8:00min. mi. pace to 7:24min. mi. pace for the second 13.1 miles of my second treadmill marathon was the freakiest and most satisfying moment of my athletic life.
I realized that all of the daily training I had been doing for months was working, and had transformed me into a person who could ride 100 miles on Saturday, and then run 26.2 on a treadmill the following Sunday. That huge load was fairly standard at that point, and simply how I spent my weekends leading up to my “A” race of the year, Ironman Arizona.
When the belt stopped, I was laughing and borderline crying, because I knew I was finally becoming the kind of triathlete I had been striving towards for years.
Thank you for guiding and believing in me, Hillary.
Yours truly and my coach, Hillary Biscay, after my first Ironman Arizona finish in 2010. We've come a long way since then.:)
November 21st
Having a fun and engaging breakfast with my first career/"How to be an amazing human being” mentor, Shannon Gans. Shannon is an entrepreneur, digital media innovator, and the person who charged up my apartment staircase in 2003 to rescue me and my roommate from a fire raging in the apartment above ours.
The remnants of our apartment fire.
Shannon is very important to me, and even though we have kept up with each other via social media, we hadn’t seen each other in a couple of years in person, so it meant the world to me that she said “yes” to my request to meet up.
I met Shannon when I was twenty-two years old on my first production job after college, a miniature shoot for the film, Coronado. She used to call me, “Taryn Kelly Green”, a clever and correct nickname that hopefully I have grown out of by now.:) I worked on numerous projects with her company over the years, and gained an infinite amount of knowledge from her on how to run a company with integrity and class, while maintaining a fun and kind identity along the way.
The timing of our breakfast date was poignant because I had just returned home the night before after racing at Ironman Arizona, where I accomplished the most daunting/seemingly out of reach goal I had ever set for myself, qualifying for the Ironman World Championships. I was in a blissful daze the entire drive home from Tempe; aware, yet not quite believing that the previous day’s events actually happened, but sharing the news with Shannon made it finally feel concrete.
Shannon was part of the Oscar award-winning Visual Effects team for the film, Interstellar.
Plus, it was fun to laugh, catch up, and spend time with such a powerful, yet very cool woman, role model and friend. Thank you, Shannon!
That’s it!
I’ll see you ALL next year!!
Following is a special New Year's treat from my pal, Taylor.