Love and Legacy

Transcript:

Sue Roberts:  She was told she had two months she came back and I said to her.

Heather, anywhere you want to go, anything you want to do.

We had taken a trip to Bora Bora in 2012. And she loved it there and it was a once in a lifetime that we would ever be there.

I said Heather, we will go back to Bora Bora and she said no you know mom I just want to stay at home and I want to die with my family and I want to be doing something for good.

So she organized a fundraiser. We had to do it quickly so that she would be able to attend. That's what she did. That's what she was doing instead of like I said we will go anywhere, we'll take you anywhere. You know. She chose to do that instead.

She was positive from the moment she was diagnosed. Until almost her last breath. She never ever gave up.

And she taught us all a valuable lesson about life and how to live it.

One of the ways that Heather. Stayed focus with hope and promise and positive.

Is that she did think about others that if somebody needed help she wanted them to know that there were others there for them.

After she was diagnosed I just really felt there was this a stronger bond. We spent a lot of time together. We shared the same sense of humor which is not always appropriate. So we kind of got each other early.

I think that connection grew and grew. We shared so much. I oftentimes hear people say she was my best friend. Your kids are your children and you love them for that. And you should be friends but we were always a parent first we never fell into that line of I'm going to be your friend. We are always a parent first.

But that did change. She was my friend. And I don't think a day went by that we didn't talk to her. Probably four or five times a day. We saw her every day. And if either her father or I was in a bad mood Heather would get us out of it.

When the cancer came back and that pretty much took away all of her left side. She needed to learn how to walk again, she needed to learn how to use her muscles. She always said Methodist needs a therapy pool because I know it would help people knowing that we're helping others.

Giving back is part of how I was raised and that's part of what the legacy that Heather is leaving us. We'll be happy I guess I can feel that you know in hopes that Heather realizes what she's done.

I mean I'll be happy and I'll be happy for Heather and I'll be happy for anybody who can use it and benefit from it. You know I was with her when she was told that she had two months and we just did nothing but hugged each other. I just... You know she was my best friend and at that moment I went back to being a parent I was the mom who couldn't fix it.

Full article published in "The Meaning of Care Magazine" | Fall 2017