The Minner Heater Hog Gene

This family trait traces back to Sean's Great-Aunt Linda, maybe even further back than that. Through Minner family folklore, I have been told that when Aunt Linda was a sweet young princess girl, her Daddy doted on her quite a bit. Every morning, he would make his baby girl a cup of cocoa and if little Linda was chilly, she would snuggle up in front of the heater vent while sipping her cocoa.

Her nephew, Doug, inherited the Heater Hog Gene, and also grew up finding comfort in front of a heater vent. He was especially fond of curling up in a ball over the vent so that he created his own little heater cocoon. His love for warm air blowing in his face didn't not stop as a child, as he grew bigger and bigger he continued to spend chilly mornings toasting by the vent.

When Deborah and Doug met and Deborah first saw the Heater Love in action, she was quite surprised. "Hmmm, I like being warm," she thought, "but I have never seen anything like that." A six foot, four inch man wrapped around a seven inch vent. Interesting. Then he convinced her to give it a try. Sweet Lord, what a warm and wonderful feeling! They would snuggle together in their jammies by the vent, and let out a "awww man! It's shutting off! Go bump up the temp a little so it will kick back on."

Then Deborah had a absolutely sinful idea. Wait a minute! I have a little box space heater from my college apartment! We could sit by it & it will never shut off! Just think of the toasty minutes we can enjoy there! Doug was doubtful that it could be as soothing as the vents he loved, but one minute in front of that puppy and he was hooked!

When the little Heater family grew to three, Doug introduced his one-month old son to Heater Love. He laid on his side on the floor, curled up with his baby tucked next to him. Aidan stopped stirring and fussing, he relaxed and opened his eyes, looking at his dad to say "Oh yeah! Now that is what I am talking about!"

Every fall, out comes the little heater box and the Heater Hogs gather around it in the morning. When the Spring brings warm mornings, the beloved heater box is fondly packed away.

The Heater Hog family has grown to four and it gets tough to find a spot in front of the heater every morning, but Daddy always tries to make sure they share some with him. This morning it was 37 degrees outside, but two little boys, sitting in front of the heater box with a fleece Heater Tent Blanket around them, felt that the morning was warm and cozy.