12 days of heather, day 5

i wrote this series remembering my best friend who was making pastries at windows on the world when she was senselessly killed by strangers with hate in their hearts. it’s been 18 years since i’ve seen her face, put my arms around her, eaten a meal she’s made. i wrote this to feel connected to her. i share it so that you might too.

day five
this is one of my favorite photos of heather and me, taken on royal street in the french quarter on new year’s eve 2000. anyone who knew hedge from age 17 onward will remember that chanel’s coco red lipstick and menthol cigarettes were pretty much her signature look. i love this photo because 13 years later, those two facts had not wavered.

as i write this, i realize that this too was one of the happiest nights of my life--the eve of the millennium, full of promise and joy and hope and an opulent multi-course dinner at bacco and, yes, lots of champagne. in just five posts it seems so clear: heather was often with me during the most joyous times of my life. i'm sure that is not a coincidence. no one could bring joy or share joy quite like her.