By Desiree Boers-Kort
Heather was so many things, but one word seems to sum up each piece of her pretty well...‘badass’. Heather was a wonderful daughter & she wanted to be the BEST daughter. Not only in the eyes of her parents Bob & Maureen, but also to her biological parents Tim & Jodi. I remember when we were on a walkabout 10 yrs ago, she said that she wanted to find her bio parents but she wanted to wait a few more years because she knew her mom & dad were proud of all of her accomplishments up to that point; but not knowing the ones who brought her into this world, she wanted to make sure she had even more successes under her belt before finding them. As if having 1 Bachelor's degree, working full-time while going to nursing school & raising multiple kids (& a husband!) wasn’t enough! Heather was a badass daughter. ❤️Heather was a committed, loving wife to Wayne, who held strong in her beliefs of what marriage is. I respected how determined she was to make that relationship continue to thrive after almost 17 yrs plus a handful of years prior to the marriage...through the ups & downs that naturally came with it. I mean, let’s face it, she was much better at it than I was with MY first marriage! She was Wayne’s equal from the beginning and he would probably admit she was the stronger one to the very end. Heather was a badass wife. ❤️ Heather was an intelligent, brilliant career woman & nurse! As I mentioned earlier, she already had a business degree & some law school under her belt when she realized she wasn’t done with learning. She wanted to become a nurse; she envisioned what & how she wanted to combine her business knowledge with a nursing degree. Her plans would require her to know every inch of the nursing field. So she didn’t just start nursing school & become a working nurse. Heather started at the basics as a certified nurse aid, working all shifts at one time or another, went to nursing school, then worked as a direct-patient care RN before climbing the business ladder & getting her Master’s degree that ultimately got her to her final position as Chief Nursing Officer at Belton. What a Super Woman. Heather was a badass career woman & nurse! ❤️Heather was a loving, adoring, consistent, stern, funny, nurturing, kind & patient (most of the time!)mother. (I could keep going with the adjectives.) Known as Madre, Momma & Heathree to her brilliant kids, she loved her 5 kiddos unconditionally more than anyone else in this world. As so many of their sports & school families know, although her job was extremely important & something she was passionate about, she was 100x more passionate when it came to her kids’ lives, their interests & how they were treated, as well as how they treated others. She taught them love, respect, dignity, humility, strength, how to have fun, and consequences of actions so that they would know how to choose paths correctly along the way in their lives. And as all of you know, they are true testaments to what she believed was important when it came to raising productive, responsible human beings. Heather was a badass mom & bonus mom! ❤️Lastly Heather was a loving & loyal sister, aunt & friend. If you were one of these to her, you were very, very lucky because she loved you wholeheartedly & without pretext. Het came bounding into my life over 20 yrs ago...I knew her for almost half her life. She was dating my ex-husband & making my 6-yr old son laugh. I probably watched her closely at first, waiting to see how this was going to work. I don’t really remember details of that though, because we quickly developed a very special, rare bond. I quickly saw in her actions that she was in it for the long haul & that she adored my son...& the feeling was mutual for him. She was so much more than a wonderful stepmom. We learned together how to coparent...with a few bumps along the way. But those bumps were b/c we both cared so very much about making the relationship work for our child at first & then as ‘sisters’ too. We would go shopping, lay out in the sun chatting about life, bought a Rottweiler puppy together & did everything that young gals do together...sometimes we even let Wayne tag along! We lived together twice...once before they married, then a few yrs later when they were married with all 5 kids. (By the way...I was also a bridesmaid in their wedding.) 😁I was honored & blessed to get to witness the birth of hers & Wayne’s 1st child they had together. A moment I will remember forever. I was asked to be at the 2nd but he decided to come before I could get there although I did hold him soon after. The next 2 were born in MO so I wasn’t able to be there but they mean just as much to me as the first 2. Yes, this dynamic was far from conventional in society’s eyes, & we didn’t advertise it loudly outside of our family & friends, but it worked for us...and ALL our kids saw the love that can &did exist in our blended family. Even though she was 5 yrs younger than me, I learned more from Het with so many things...both during her life & since her untimely, unfair death. A couple of weeks before she passed, I was extremely lucky to get to sit with Heather a few hours in her ICU room so that Wayne could get away a little earlier than usual to spend time with their kids. We talked about mostly lighthearted stuff but she also wanted to be clear about 2 things: the 1st being that her kids are most important in all of this & that she wanted me to promise to be here for them no matter what it takes; the 2nd was how much she loved me. Here was my friend...my soul sister, losing her battle with life here on earth but was putting everyone else 1st and trying to comfort US. Heather was a truly badass friend! ❤️ Of course I promised I would be in the kids’ lives always & that I along with Nicole, the grandparents and countless others, would make sure Wayne & the kids are happy & healthy. The very last thing Het said to me after we let go of each other’s hands was, “Desi I love you...I’ll see you soon.” Het, I already feel you so strongly all around me. I love you...it’s not goodbye but I’ll see you soon. ❤️
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