Heather was born January 31, 1983 and was truely a gift from God to her father and I. She was a beautiful, spirited, blond haired, blue eyed babydoll, and will always be loved and cherished.

She brought me more joy than I had ever known. She was my world. She loved playing softball. She also played soccer in the past, was a cheerleader and played the handbells at church. She made friends easy and had a ton of them. She loved them and they loved her. She loved talking on the phone to all of them for hours on end. She was in the 9th grade in high school and was a good student. She had just gotten her learner's license and I was beginning to teach her how to drive. She had just started actually going out on dates with a nice young man. She was happy and looking forward to the future. She was a great kid.

I miss her with all my heart. My only comfort is knowing she is with Jesus in heaven. Heather's best friend, Kristen, lived in our neighborhood and she began riding home with a young man from school who was 16 and had a car. After checking into the situation, I let Heather start riding with him too. Come to find out she had rode with him already and I didn't know it. Heather and Kristendespised riding the school bus. All went well for about a month and then came the phone call. It was a Wednesday afternoon. The 16 year old driving was going to fast, went off the road, overcorrected and lost control of the car. The car flipped over several times and Heather was ejected.

She was not wearing a seat belt. She was revived at the scene and lived for 7 days in ICU. She never woke up. She died from severe head trauma at 3:09 a.m. on March 11, 1998. Another teenager, O.J., died at the scene of this accident. I know each of you reading Heather's story know the pain and anguish I feel. You feel it too and I am sorry for each of you. May God's comfort and love touch each of you and give you and I the strength to keep living and to find some peace and happiness on this earth until we are reunited with our loved ones again forever.