Remembering Heather

Heather, Cassie and I- Homecoming Freshman year, BYU


Heather and I in her dorm room


My friend Heather Ann Luedtke Chapman passed away on August 31st at the young age of 32. She battled breast cancer for almost 3 years and although I wanted her to beat it so badly, I visited her a couple of days before she died and realized how much pain she was in. It was hard to see- Heather was not herself anymore. So while I am sad that she is gone because I will miss her, I am glad that she is no longer in pain. When I heard that she passed away, I instantly imagined her in my mind smiling in heaven, with her big smile, long blonde hair and healthy body- able to run and dance like she loved to do. We had so many fun times together. She was my second half my freshman year at BYU. We did everything together- and I mean everything. We even planned our trips to the bathroom together. And although we lived a couple doors down from each other in the dorms, I talked to her on the phone several times a day. I remember my roommate thinking it was crazy that I had just seen Heather and then we were on the phone talking. Heather was a loyal friend. She always was an example to me. Some people are just "good"- and that was Heather. I know it has been a long time since college but I often think back on my memories. I loved BYU and always treasure the experiences I had there, and especially the friends that I made.

I went to Heather's funeral in southern california. It was a quick trip because of the baby at home. I flew down that morning and back that afternoon. I am so glad that I was able to attend though. Her funeral was a powerful spiritual experience for me. Her family is so strong. And I left feeling determined to be a better person, to be more like Heather. She didn't complain as she battled the cancer. She will always be remembered for her constant smile. And she kept her faith throughout her trials- enduring to the end. The chapel was packed and I hope Heather could feel how much she was loved and how many lives she touched.

Just a few memories that come to my mind right now- skipping dinner at the Cannon Center and eating brownie shakes at Cosmos instead, football games, anatomy lab and stinky clothes, building snowmen, our "Jared" tape that we listened to over and over, singing and playing the piano together in the practice rooms, dinners at Brick Oven and Los Hermanos, dressing up and being my date to the Opera, Homecoming dance at the Capitol Building, candy at the Bookstore, studying together in the library until Hawaii 5-0 started to play, stalking "Ball Boy", food fights in the Canon Center, eating dried cereal for dinner because we were sick of the food, starving on Sundays and late night walks to Circle K or Taco Bell, playing Red Rover late at night, going to Provo Canyon and building a fire and singing hymns on sundays, going to open house at the boy's dorm, sneaking into the boys' dorm through the back door and getting caught by Atila the Hun dorm mom, dollar movies, having the boys take turns waiting all day in line to buy tickets for the friday night movie on campus, going to those packed BYU dances and the Helaman Halls dances- those were so much fun!, forcing her to listen to country music, Disneyland, several trips to Whittier to visit her, eating lots of Mexican food and also at one of her favorite food places- Islands, having her perform her latest song for me on the guitar, watching her tap dance when I could get her to do that for me, always making me laugh- I called her my own personal comedian, Sparky the fireman who was kidnapped by the boys along with her camera- and later returned with funny pictures of the guys dressed up like Sparky, buying Sparky a birthday card, laying on her bed together and talking, her timidly knocking on my door Saturday mornings to see if I was finally up yet, waiting for Amanda to find her meal card before most dinners, Chicago (singing group) concert at the Marriott Center, Tuesday devotionals at the Marriott Center and then lunch together, emailing almost every day after we graduated and lived away from each other, our Book of Mormon trip to Central America. I could go on and on. One of the best things in life is to have true friends. I hope that she knew in life how much I cared about her and admired her.