www.washingtonpost.com
Open in
urlscan Pro
23.45.108.250
Public Scan
URL:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2024/07/18/pride-sign-silver-spring-love/?utm_campaign=wp_post_most&utm_medium=email&ut...
Submission: On July 23 via api from BE — Scanned from DE
Submission: On July 23 via api from BE — Scanned from DE
Form analysis 1 forms found in the DOM
<form class="wpds-c-gRPFSl wpds-c-gRPFSl-jGNYrR-isSlim-false">
<div class="transition-all duration-200 ease-in-out"><button type="submit" data-qa="sc-newsletter-signup-button" class="wpds-c-kSOqLF wpds-c-kSOqLF-uTUwn-variant-primary wpds-c-kSOqLF-eHdizY-density-default wpds-c-kSOqLF-ejCoEP-icon-left">Sign
up</button></div>
</form>Text Content
Accessibility statementSkip to main content Democracy Dies in Darkness SubscribeSign in Advertisement Democracy Dies in Darkness D.C., Md. & Va.The District Maryland Virginia Crime & Public Safety Local Education Obituaries Transportation Capital Weather Gang D.C., Md. & Va.The District Maryland Virginia Crime & Public Safety Local Education Obituaries Transportation Capital Weather Gang PRIDE SIGN DECAYED AS A MAN FOUGHT CANCER. NEIGHBORS REVIVED IT. Silver Spring neighborhood restores iconic LOVE sign to honor its creator, Mike Heffner, who died of cancer last year. 8 min 124 Sorry, a summary is not available for this article at this time. Please try again later. Tony Brown and his late husband put up a LOVE sign in 2021 that was not designed to be permanent. This one is. (Robb Hill for The Washington Post) By Emma Uber July 18, 2024 at 9:00 a.m. EDT The sign was one of Mike Heffner’s many eccentric ideas. A graphic designer, Heffner concocted an elaborate way to celebrate his first Pride Month married to Tony Brown, building 4-foot tall plywood letters that spelled “LOVE” in front of the couple’s Silver Spring home. Subscribe for unlimited access to The Post You can cancel anytime. Subscribe In the years that followed, neighbors embraced the sign, posing their costumed children next to it for Halloween photos, admiring the twinkling lights Heffner meticulously wrapped around the letters for Christmas and referencing the “Love House” as a landmark for directions. But when Heffner was diagnosed with Stage 4 lung cancer in May 2023, the sign deteriorated alongside its creator’s health. Story continues below advertisement Wind and rain had set the letters askew. The paint depicting the Pride flag on the “O” was chipped. The bottom of the letter “E” was amputated, a reminder of the time neighbors had spotted teenagers snapping off a piece of the sign and chased the kids down until they dropped it. Advertisement Heffner looked out at the sign every day until he died on Oct. 6, 2023. 🌸 Follow D.C. region Follow Hours after Heffner passing, neighbors again flocked to the Love House. This time, in an impromptu vigil, the community resolved to honor Heffner and rebuild a permanent reminder of his legacy. MAKING A STATEMENT Heffner was an outspoken member of the LGBTQ+ community and longtime vocal advocate for accessible HIV/AIDS care when he and Brown first met in 2016. At 47, Brown had only recently come out and was enamored of the man who led his life so unabashedly. Brown moved to Silver Spring and instantly felt welcomed by the new community, but initially balked when Heffner encouraged him to fly the Pride flag outside their home or outwardly celebrate their sexuality. Story continues below advertisement “There’s a power to coming out,” Brown said. “Mike pulled me along a little bit, but I think there was also this energy about coming out at that stage after so long and not wanting to hide anymore.” Advertisement After five years together, they married in January 2021. Then Heffner told Brown about his idea to celebrate their first Pride Month together as a married couple. The graphic designer was known for appreciating aesthetic beer can labels, carrying paint pens in his pockets to write cheery messages on rocks and dressing Franz — the mannequin he ordered to sell clothes on Depop — in dried sunflower hats and dish towel neck scarfs. So when Heffner proposed the project, Brown knew the drill — he headed to the store to buy some plywood and ponder the logistics while Heffner, the creative director both at work and home, dreamed about what to paint on the sign. While clearly a symbol of LGBTQ+ acceptance, the couple erected the sign in June 2021 amid the pandemic and the Black Lives Matter movement. Story continues below advertisement “All of these things were converging and we felt like we wanted to project something that was positive but also make a statement,” Brown said. Advertisement The meaning of the sign evolved over time. It became an emblem for the quiet Silver Spring neighborhood of Rosemary Hills, where well-trimmed hydrangea bushes line the sidewalks and residents banded together to fly Pride flags outside their homes after one neighbor’s was repeatedly stolen. “The sign itself to me symbolizes a caring community,” neighbor Molly Chehak said. “It’s about pride in our neighborhood, both in the literal sense and in the LGBTQ sense. We’re proud of being a neighborhood that is inclusive and celebratory.” The sign’s significance shifted once again as Heffner fell ill. Story continues below advertisement Heffner did not want to keep his sickness a secret. After ensuring his two children and Tony’s four daughters were among the first to know, he asked neighbors to spread the news of his diagnosis. Chehak helped organize a CaringBridge page to keep loved ones updated on his condition and, alongside Heffner’s longtime business partner Lucy Pope, spent nearly every day at the pair’s home finding small ways to make life a little easier like dropping off groceries or walking the dog. Advertisement “What was truly amazing, particularly as he got more sick, is that we had a schedule and people were over here and sitting with him and helping all the time,” Brown said. Brown said the final months of his husband’s life were marred with grief and uncertainty, but also an outpouring of support. Even the final two weeks of Heffner’s life, when he entered hospice care, were filled with nightly festivities at the Love House. Story continues below advertisement “That was truly a wonderful two weeks of people being with him,” Brown said. “It was like every night was a party here. People came and we would make dinner and work in the yard. Those are things I’m going to remember.” Neighbors Katie and John Loughran had read pleas for ways to help Heffner or prevent sign vandalism flooding the neighborhood listserv. At the beginning of October, they launched a GoFundMe page asking for donations to restore the sign. In the description, they detailed Heffner’s cancer and the sign’s decay. They sent the page around the neighborhood, but never fathomed the response. Advertisement It raised nearly $4,000 in the first week. “I don’t think it was anyone’s idea from the get-go that it would be a memorial to Mike, but it became clear that this is what it is,” Chehak said. “It’s a tribute to him.” The night Heffner died, Brown knelt to place his lighted candle at the foot of the sign. It joined the 38 others stuck in the earth of his front yard — one for each person who had flocked to the sign after hearing Heffner had died just hours before. Story continues below advertisement The group broke into song, singing, “This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine.” Why that children’s lullaby, Brown did not know. But much like the impromptu vigil itself, it just felt right. Later, in front of the 250 people gathered for Heffner’s formal memorial, Brown would reference that night and that song. During the vigil, Brown said, Heffner’s legacy became intertwined with the sign. Advertisement “There’s no rhyme or reason, we all know that — but I like the concept that we all have a finite amount of light to shine,” Brown said. “Some of us hold back — just a little — to conserve and prolong. But others of us, like Mike, shine with abandon.” LOVE RETURNS This June, three years after the creation of the original sign, the neighborhood rallied around the Love House once again. Story continues below advertisement The GoFundMe covered the cost of a metalworker, and extruded aluminum letters replaced the dilapidated plywood, solidifying the sign’s permanence. The rest of the funds went toward making Brown’s landscaping vision a reality. On a recent Wednesday, a team of volunteers helped him turn fallen tree limbs into benches and create a rock garden in memory of the trail of painted pebbles Heffner always left in his wake. They planted flowers meant to attract butterflies. Tony’s daughters — Isabel, Caroline, Chloe and India — painted the letters as neighbors stopped by to offer refreshments and swap stories of the girls’ stepdad. Advertisement The new letters boast different designs, each a tribute to Heffner. The rainbow striped “L” represents the original sign’s message of LGBTQ+ pride. Story continues below advertisement Caroline, 23, adorned the “O” with peace signs, flowers and other funky designs as a nod to the free love movement of the 1960s. A professional artist, 26-year-old Isabel painted what her dad and stepdad had fondly coined her “non-gendered love blobs” on the “V.” The pair had daydreamed about Heffner one day putting the blobs — which look like colorful human figures all embracing one another — on stickers and other merchandise. Finally, 20-year-old Chloe replicated Heffner’s handwriting to scrawl “love is love” all over the “E.” She studied the stylized writing Heffner often used to write positive messages on the rocks he left behind for people to find. Those who knew Heffner loved the original sign even in its state of disrepair because of its connection to their friend, but Chehak said even those who do not know Heffner’s story can appreciate the new sign. Advertisement “Tony and Mike made the first sign as a lark … it was something you just put up temporarily in your yard,” Chehak said. “But this feels like public art. It’s really beautifying the neighborhood.” The colorful local landmark has already made an impression in the few weeks it’s been complete, with neighbors spotting the letter carrier and other passersby stopping to take photos with the sign. His husband, Brown said, would have loved it. “Mike doesn’t have a gravestone yet,” Brown said. “It is in so many ways the most fitting marker that we can have for the energy that Mike brought and the life that he lived.” Share 124 Comments NewsletterWeekdays Post Local The news you need about the place you call home. News, weather and lifestyle for D.C., Maryland and Virginia. Sign up Subscribe to comment and get the full experience. Choose your plan → Advertisement Advertisement TOP STORIES D.C. region Local news, weather, sports, events, restaurants and more Frankie Luvu wants to put a charge into the rebuilding Commanders James Wood’s big moment blasts the Nationals to a sweep of the Reds ‘Call Me Baseball’: Carly Rae Jepsen threw postgame party at Nationals Park back Try a different topic Sign in or create a free account to save your preferences Advertisement Advertisement Company About The Post Newsroom Policies & Standards Diversity & Inclusion Careers Media & Community Relations WP Creative Group Accessibility Statement Sitemap Get The Post Become a Subscriber Gift Subscriptions Mobile & Apps Newsletters & Alerts Washington Post Live Reprints & Permissions Post Store Books & E-Books Today’s Paper Public Notices Contact Us Contact the Newsroom Contact Customer Care Contact the Opinions Team Advertise Licensing & Syndication Request a Correction Send a News Tip Report a Vulnerability Terms of Use Digital Products Terms of Sale Print Products Terms of Sale Terms of Service Privacy Policy Cookie Settings Submissions & Discussion Policy RSS Terms of Service Ad Choices washingtonpost.com © 1996-2024 The Washington Post * washingtonpost.com * © 1996-2024 The Washington Post * About The Post * Contact the Newsroom * Contact Customer Care * Request a Correction * Send a News Tip * Report a Vulnerability * Download the Washington Post App * Policies & Standards * Terms of Service * Privacy Policy * Cookie Settings * Print Products Terms of Sale * Digital Products Terms of Sale * Submissions & Discussion Policy * RSS Terms of Service * Ad Choices WE CARE ABOUT YOUR PRIVACY We and our 43 partners store and/or access information on a device, such as unique IDs in cookies to process personal data. You may accept or manage your choices by clicking below, including your right to object where legitimate interest is used, or at any time in the privacy policy page. These choices will be signaled to our partners and will not affect browsing data. If you click “I accept,” in addition to processing data using cookies and similar technologies for the purposes to the right, you also agree we may process the profile information you provide and your interactions with our surveys and other interactive content for personalized advertising. If you do not accept, we will process cookies and associated data for strictly necessary purposes and process non-cookie data as set forth in our Privacy Policy (consistent with law and, if applicable, other choices you have made). WE AND OUR PARTNERS PROCESS COOKIE DATA TO PROVIDE: Actively scan device characteristics for identification. Create profiles for personalised advertising. Use profiles to select personalised advertising. Create profiles to personalise content. Use profiles to select personalised content. Measure advertising performance. Measure content performance. Understand audiences through statistics or combinations of data from different sources. Develop and improve services. Store and/or access information on a device. Use limited data to select content. Use limited data to select advertising. List of Partners (vendors) I Accept Reject All Show Purposes