My Story,

My name is Heather; I was born ...

in Hayward California March 25th 1968. I had what many call a normal life. I played and went to school; I lived in Hayward until I was twelve years old. Then my family moved up to Amador County and we lived in the countryside. We had five acres of land and lots of animals. When I was 14 years old I was in a car accident. I had been riding in the car with my Dad and one of my sisters. I am thankful they were not harmed.

For all intents and purposes I died that day. ...

The life I knew was over. My neck was injured; the third, fourth, and fifth vertebrae was broken. I was paralyzed from the neck down. This was hard for everyone, but even harder for my Mom. Who was in an auto accident in her teenage years and uses a wheelchair also. I’ve traveled a long road since that day. Over the years I have regained some use of my arms. I am also lucky to have regained sensation in my arms and legs.

I spent a lot of time in the ...

hospital during my high school years. Instead of finishing high school I took the GED test and went straight to community college in 1986. I would love to tell you that I was happy and everything was great, but this is real life. I had to fight for everything, Sometimes the classroom would not be wheelchair accessible. Other times I could not get to school because there was no wheelchair lift on the city bus or the lift was broken that day. Sometimes I would end up in the hospital with pneumonia. I was married for a short time. It lasted one year and one week and two hours and twenty-nine minutes. But that is another story for another time.

From 1986 to 1996 I struggled with many things. ...

Enjoy everything there is. Some day you wont be able to. I would like to say my life began in 1997 when I met Steve. He gave me so much to look forward to. He gave me peace and happiness. Over the years (8 of them) we have been together Steve has never let me just sit back and do nothing. He can drive me nuts. My mother once said, "you deserve each other" not meant for each other but 'DESERVE" I guess she was right. Well 20 years later I now have my Associates of Science degree in computer graphics and Bachelor of Arts degree in Organizational Leadership. It is now February 2006 and I am currently enrolled in the last college course needed for my degree. As of April 2006 I will have a Masters degree in Organizational Leadership with an emphasis in Human Resources. All this time Steve has been there making sure I got to school on time, making sure I did home work and not play video games. Which was difficult for him because he really liked playing online games. The both of us can be pretty geeky at times.