Yesterday at 4:29 PM our sister-in-law Heather lost her battle with Cancer. It was a really bittersweet experience for all of us. For the past two weeks she has been on hospice care and has has been in really bad shape. Jennifer and I missed being there by five minutes but Heather was surrounded by many loved ones. I was initially upset that we missed out on being there but then I remembered that Jennifer and I were able to be there Sunday night Friday night and many other nights in the past month.
As I said before this was a really bittersweet experience. Heather was loved by so many people because of her contagious smile and her shy and loving personality. It was hard to be mad at her or to be mad around her. She always lifted people up. Last night her Father was telling me that Heather never complained. The nurses at the Chemo facility loved her because she was always smiling and happy. They don't see that a lot. She was an amazing woman in that way. It is hard to let a person like her go. On the other hand it was even more difficult to see her in so much pain. Seeing her yesterday at peace after her passing was so comforting to us all. We know she is no longer in pain and it is also nice to know that she is no longer struggling to stay alive. For the first time in almost three years she is comfortable and her worries of her sick and ailing body are over. We are all so happy she can finally rest.
I later asked Jennifer if she thought there was anything else we could have done to keep her alive? Could we have beaten this cancer? Was there another treatment? Did we exhaust all avenues of treatment and therapy? Jennifer and I both feel there was nothing else that could have been done. This made me so proud of Heather. She was a fighter and she wasn't going to just roll over and let this cancer take her without hoping for her cure. She did everything in her power to become a cancer survivor.
God received a very special person yesterday. I know Heather is still alive. I know her spirit has gone home and she is being greeted by her family that has passed before her and also our Father in Heaven who created her. Heather was one of the more righteous of all of God's children on this planet. She was Christlike. I know God has a very special place for her in Heaven. I believe sometimes God takes the best of his children because there is a lot of important work to be done in Heaven. Heather will be a great soldier for Him as one His Angels.
I love my sister. I felt weird calling her my sister-in-law earlier in this post. Heather has become my sister and I will miss her greatly. I can't wait to see her again.
Funeral services will be held this Saturday September 5, 2009 at 10:00 AM at the Fairmont Building of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. The Church address is:
441 S. Fairmont Blvd.
Anaheim CA 92808
