June 30- In Loving Memory of Heather Terman

This morning I woke up to the worst news anyone can receive. My mom emailed me to let me know of Heather Terman’s passing away. I was completely shocked. I’ve known Heather my entire life, and she has been a great friend to my family. She was in my dad's class in school, and my mom worked with her for several years at Hi-Country. When she married her husband Jay, Katie Shaw and I were flower girls at her wedding.

My favorite memory of Heather was going to a Shania Twain concert with her and Kathy and Katie Shaw. Katie and I were obsessed with Shania for the majority of our childhood, and being able to see her perform in real life was a dream come true. I’m glad I was able to share that experience with such wonderful people.

Heather was constantly involved in community events and fundraisers. I will never forget how much she supported my family four years ago when my Grandma Lynn was diagnosed with cancer. She helped organized a benefit to raise money for my grandparents, and she also helped plan the memorial service for my grandma when she passed away. I will forever be thankful for everything Heather did for me and my family.

Heather was an amazing woman, and she will greatly be missed. My heart goes out to all of her friends, family, Jay, Trevor, Misty, Cort, Ryann, and especially Don and Sharon. No parent should ever have to say goodbye to their child. Life is a precious thing, and none of us should ever take it for granted. All we can do now is remember Heather’s beautiful smile and her kind nature. She will live on in our hearts and in our memories.

~~~~~ 

After hearing about Heather’s death, nothing else seems worthy to write about from today except for one thing. I went back into Bilbao with some friends and picked up a couple of souvenirs. As I got off the subway station (I missed the last bus), I met another SAS girl who was also headed back to the ship. We started chatting, and she said she had to fly home the next day. I was shocked to hear this, and I asked her why she was going home. She told me that her ex-boyfriend who she had dated for six years was killed yesterday in a drunk driving accident. She was going home to his funeral and then coming back to SAS when we get to Scotland.

I couldn’t believe what she had just told me. I went on to tell her that a family friend of mine has just passed away yesterday as well. We talked for a long time, and she told me a lot about everything that had happened to her in the past 24 hours. At one point she said, “I think that we were meant to meet each other today. It’s a blessing to be able to talk to someone who understands what I’m going through.” Of course our circumstances were different, but I do feel like God brought us together today to be able to share our stories with one another. She was a sweet girl, and I wish the best for her and her family. I hope to see her again when she comes back to the ship in Scotland.

So my time in Spain has ended. We have four days on the ship, and then we’ll be docking in Glasgow, Scotland. Three countries down, seven to go.