Heather was taken into custody at eight months but not adopted by Tom and Lea McIntosh until she was two. She was in 3 foster homes. Soon we moved back to B.C. and lived in Surrey. We found three acres in Maple Ridge and built our home. Over the next few years Heather welcomed Laurie, Michael and David and they went to Webster’s Corner School. We did homeschooling for awhile too. They all swam 3 days a week with the swim club. She was a good swimmer. She started high school at Garibaldi but was soon running away. Her teen years were difficult but at 18 she decided to come home and completed a high school program. She worked in a store that did copying and picture framing.

During this time she gave birth to Stephen who was a beautiful, happy baby. She met Kevin and they became a family. Kevin had several jobs and they had a baby they named Shawn. We bought a house with three bedrooms upstairs and two downstairs for Laurie and her son, Eric. Both Heather and Laurie applied for disability and so were more settled. Life was easier because they didn’t move so much. While there were problems -both with Kevin being unable to find a good job and Stephen’s and Eric’s difficulties in school life continued quite well. 

Heather loved to garden, was a good cook. Her hobbies were colouring books, making jewellery and reading. She spent a lot of her time with the boys. They often went to the playground or to a nearby park. When the boys were at school she spent time with Laurie or her friends. Unfortunately Kevin left and Heather was alone. Then Shawn and his wife had three children that she adored. Her sudden death was unexpected.

"When I look back on the suffering in my life,
this may sound really strange, but I see it now as a gift.
I would have never asked for it for a second.
I hated it while it was happening
and I protested as loudly as I could,
but suffering happened anyway. Now, in retrospect,
I see the way in which it deepened
my being immeasurably."
- Ram Dass