Fond Memories

I can't count how many times I have sat down to write this post, and I just can't do it. Normally blogging is easy, fun, and I enjoy it. But I am still having a hard time putting my feelings into words about a college friend that passed away. In fact right now I just want to stop, and move on. But for me my blog is something that I hope to look back on our life experiences and I don't want to forget the impact Heidi had on my life.
I met Heidi at Freshman Orientation at Central, we got introduced because we were both coming in to play volleyball. We hit it off right away, and her and Randi, Courtney and I spent the rest of day hanging out and having fun getting to know the campus (I think we ditched some of the 'classes' and found better things to :)). We even took mattresses from their dorm room and put them in one room for a big slumber party! From then on I guess you could say were connected at the hip, her and Courtney and I spent every second together between eating all of our meals together, taking the same classes, volleyball, and anything else we did. Heidi had a huge heart and was full of life. She was witty, funny and had a great sense of humor. We spent most of our time laughing, and were a good support system for each other being scared little freshman volleyball players trying to fit in with the rest of the team. On volleyball road trips we always got to room together, and spent more time together than not. She was a Yakima girl, and I was a Lynden girl.... We learned a lot from each other... :)

When I heard about Heidi passing away, it was at 2:00 am, I happened to be up putting Kyler back asleep and saw a message on the computer. My heart dropped, I immediately went downstairs and woke Chris up to tell him. I was so incredibly sad, and laid awake for the rest of the night thinking back to the amazing times we shared together and at that moment realizing how much I had missed her. Still to this day I can't stop thinking about her, even though we did a horrible job of staying in touch after college, our friendship and the things we experienced together could not be replaced by time. We had recently over the past few months reconnected more over Facebook, and I enjoyed having her to talk to again. Our friendship was one that it didn't matter how much time would pass, we could easily just pick up where we left off.
It was no question to whether or not I would be making the trip to Yakima for her service. With Chris and our parents working, it took a lot of people to make it possible with shuffling the kids around to get me over there. I am so glad I did. Seeing her family was really nice and what an amazing family she comes from. Seeing some old teammates and friends was nice to talk about our memories of Heidi. I even got to meet her husband, and her sweet little two year old boy Aiden. It makes me feel so good knowing that Aiden has a great dad, and will be well taken care of.
I can't help but share this picture, a little embarrassing to say the least. But really a true definition of our friendship. Heidi I miss you so much, thank you for making my college years so fun and memorable, and I am so happy that you are now finally at peace and in heaven.

At the funeral service Heidi's parents stood up before it started and thanked everyone for coming. They were overwhelmed by the support of everyone there and their love for Heidi (there was standing room only). Her mom referred to this song that her and Heidi earlier that week had listened to "Sometimes He calms the storm and sometimes he calms the child" Heidi had now been calmed and in the arms of Jesus where she was finally healed.

Since then I have thought a lot about that... and found something I would like to share

Jesus however doesn’t always calm the storm, but uses the storm to teach us and make our faith stronger. The song says it best “Sometimes He calms the storm and sometimes he calms the child". The next time you are facing a storm in your life, and your prayers don’t seem to be heard, remember God always hears our prayers and does that which is best for us and not always what we ask. Have faith that He will take care of you, provide for you, and answer your prayer…just maybe not in the way you expected.

Heidi Katheryn Keck, you will be forever be missed, and I am so happy to know that I will indeed see you again someday!