Dear Pat,

My name is Stacy.  I was very good friends with Heath when we were teenagers.  Heath and I were very close.  I’m not sure if you remember me, but I was also friends with Jason Puckett, Shannon Purdy, Shawn Cornett, and Sean Crowson.  I spent a lot of time at your house visiting Heath.  I remember going to a party of friends of yours with you and Heath, I believe it was a Halloween party.  We video taped a lot that night.  You might also remember my friend Heather.  She dated Shawn Cornett around the time I was dating Heath.  After Heath and I broke up (because of the drugs and alcohol) we remained very close friends.  We spent hours on the phone many days and nights.  We would talk all through the night and into morning hours.  I really loved Heath.  We had some deep conversations.  I spent more time in conversation with him then I have with anyone else in my life.  I’ll never forget the day after I broke up with him and we had been on the phone until the early morning.  It was Easter Sunday.  I asked him to come to church with me and my family.  He was so sweet, he wore a shirt and tie – the tie was a santa clause tie or some sort of Christmas tie. After church Heath and I spent the whole day on my front porch talking.  We talked a lot about God among many other things.  I believe Heath is now with Him in heaven.

 

Heath often spoke about not living to be 30.  It terrified me, but I kind of believed him.  When he began dating Kristen we were still very close.  She hated me for that and continually threatened me. We remained close, but had to hide it from her.  For that reason we started to drift apart. After I graduated high school, we had very little contact. Our group of friends started to break up after Jason left for the military.  I deeply regret that Heath and I grew apart.  The last time we spoke was in 2001.  He looked me up on the internet and called me.  I had just gotten married.  He said he moved to Kansas and told me about a girl he lived with that he really loved.  He said she broke his heart.  When he called I was in the process of moving to Florida, and I lost his phone number.  Since then I have thought about him a lot and even considered calling you in order to get in touch with him.  I wasn’t sure if you would remember me.  I regret I never made that call.  Around 4:00 this afternoon I decided to look him up on my space.  When I saw Heath Bowen memorial, at first I thought it might be him joking around.  I can’t believe he’s gone.  He made such an impression in my life that I feel like a part of me is gone with him.  He always jokingly used the term “special” in that silly voice of his, but he truly was special.  He had so much heart and depth.  I am so thankful that I was given the opportunity to know and love him.  I learned a lot about myself through my relationship with him.

 

I am so sorry for your loss.  I can’t believe he has been gone for three years and I did not know.  My heart goes out to you and your family. 

 

Do you have any pictures of Heath and me together?  I need to ask my mom to find her pictures from that time.  I would love to see some pictures of us and our friends.  We really had a great friendship.  I will never forget him.

 

Thank you for putting together such a wonderful memorial to Heath.  It is beautiful what you have done.  I appreciate the opportunity to read his writings and view some pictures. 

 

Sincerely,

Stacy