Remembering Heidi

I went to Heidi Rains' funeral today. She was 42. It was a medium-small church. I don't estimate crowds well, but lots of people were there. I stood, as did about a fourth of the folk there.

Something like 48 hours after she went to the emergency room, she was gone, evening of New Years Day. We don't have tomorrow, not until it's today. We live today, and what we do may affect tomorrow, but we lose today if we worry too much about tomorrow. Heidi would have been surprised by the size of the crowd. What we do today affects lots of peoples' lives. And they care.

The last time I saw Heidi was maybe Tuesday or Wednesday before Christmas. I was leaving as she was going in, and we talked briefly in the parking lot. She said she'd been meaning to tell me how much she liked Slender Steps to Sanity, how much it had meant to her. I was touched that day, honored. And I've been thinking about it ever since the call on Friday, telling me she was gone. Heidi wasn't a member of OA, never attended a meeting. She worried about her weight, but I never got any feeling she needed OA. But that conversation in the parking lot, she told me she wanted to share the book with others, asked about how to do it, and we talked about it. She was going to bring me money to send copies to people, and of course that didn't happen.

As I stood there in the church I decided to honor Heidi by sending books out for her. I'm asking for your help, not for money, but for names and addresses to whom I should send them. I had a plan, but I've learned I can't use addresses obtained from OA in any way to distribute the book, and I've given them away to many of the people around me. If you would like one or know of someone who would like one, I would ask that you email me and just tell me their name and address. I'll send copies to as many addresses as I get, and it doesn't matter when you read this. Just click this link, and send the address. I'll know what you're asking. I don't need to know if it's your address or somebody else's, and I'll not use the address for any other purpose at all. Thanks.