Action Alert!
This year, more than 40,000 women will die from breast cancer. We are making a difference right now, and so can you! Just visit www.ActNowEndBreastCancer.org and sent a letter to the President and Congress thanking them for extending the life of the Breast Cancer Research Stamp. This simple effort has generated over $34.5 million for breast cancer research.
With the State of the Union around the corner, and millions of Americans tuning in to listen, let's express our hope that the President includes funding for breast cancer research in his priorities for the coming year. As President Bush prepares to address the nation, join me and thousands of others in urging him to use this forum to help educate Americans about the importance of breast cancer programs. Send your letter today!
Please join me, Team Heather, and our friends and family. Click here to send your free letter. www.ActNowEndBreastCancer.org
All of us, united together, can make a difference in the lives of women and families facing breast cancer. Send your letter today.
Thanks!
Shawn
Monday, January 30, 2006
Sunday, January 29, 2006
Thursday, January 26, 2006
Team Heather Sets The Goal For 2006 And The National Race For The Cure
Team Heather $30 K - 2006 (TH30K06)
Team Heather 2005 Places Third out of over 1000 Teams, Raising over $27,500
As you may know, the 17th annual Susan G. Komen National Race for the Cure® is on June 3, 2006. The National Race for the Cure® is the largest 5K in the world. This will be the 6th consecutive year Team Heather, a team created in honor of my sister, Heather Gardner Starcher, has participated in this deeply satisfying and consequential experience. We are determined to surpass our fundraising efforts of last year, where, with the help of folks like you, Team Heather raised over $27,500. Please think about making your philanthropic efforts for 2006 be Team Heather and the National Race for the Cure®. Thank you and $30,000, here we come!
I thought it might help those of you who never met Heather, to learn a bit about her. She was my youngest sister. Heather was diagnosed with advanced breast cancer at age 25 and participated in the National Race for the Cure® in 2001 and 2002. Heather offered herself up to speak around Northeast Ohio on the importance of early detection and treatment for breast cancer.
As a big sister in the Big Brothers & Big Sisters Program® for over six years, and as a volunteer counselor for children with disabilities at Camp Wonderlung, Heather was determined to help improve the quality of life for those less fortunate. It is no small wonder that her desire to make a difference in the lives of the disadvantaged merged perfectly with her the fight against breast cancer and her passion for The Komen National Race for the Cure. Here, monies raised go to providing underprivileged women with the financial assistance to battle this deadly disease.
Heather’s intense desire to inform and educate other women, young and old alike, on the dangers of emerging breast cancer guided her decision to proudly go wigless and hatless throughout her treatment. At 26, and recently married, Heather lost the battle with breast cancer she had been fighting for over a year and a half.
I would be honored if you aided in Heather’s ongoing battle in 2006, by either joining Team Heather as a member, or donating to the cause in the name of Team Heather.
How are you making a difference and leaving your mark right now? There are three ways to do just that in supporting Team Heather and the fight against breast cancer. 1) Join Team Heather; 2) Sponsor Team Heather; 3) Spread the message of Team Heather. Doing one of these is great, doing two or three of these will all but ensure that we reach our fundraising goal of $30,000 in 2006.
Please think first about joining the team. By becoming a member of Team Heather you will have the opportunity to help raise funds through your very own website set up for you on the National Race for the Cure’s® website. It doesn't matter if you can physically make it to the race on June 3, 2006 or not. Your participation as a team member, raising funds for an issue that touches so many lives, will help the mothers, sisters, daughters, wives, grandmothers, aunts, cousins, friends, and coworkers of all of us.
If joining the team and raising funds is just not something you are able to do at this time, please think about donating to Team Heather. By donating any amount of money, you will receive the satisfaction of contributing to the fight against breast cancer. You will also help to propel this tiny little team into the ranks of the big boys. We consistently raise more money than every bank, university, embassy, branch of the military, lobbying group, sports team, and other larger organizations, year after year.
No matter what you do, PLEASE forward this appeal and information to those in your address book who would be interested in joining the fight. There will be no way we can raise $30,000 without your help in some way.
Directions for either joining Team Heather or donating to the team will be coming shortly on this website. Even though the race is in June, the sooner you decide to participate in some way the sooner Team Heather will meet the required numbers to qualify for the 2006 National Race for the Cure®.
Thank you very much for your consideration and thank you for your efforts to end this devastating disease. We love and miss you tremendously Heather!
You CAN make a difference. PLEASE act now!
I Run For Life - Melissa Ethridge
It's been years since they told her about it
The darkness her body possessed
And the scars are still there in the mirror
Everyday that she gets herself dressed
Though the pain is miles and miles behind her
And the fear is now a docile beast
If you ask her why she is still running
She'll tell you it makes her complete
I run for hope
I run to feel
I run for the truth
For all that is real
I run for your mother your sister your wife
I run for you and me my friend
I run for life
It's a blur since they told me about it
How the darkness had taken its toll
And they cut into my skin and they cut into my body
But they will never get a piece of my soul
And now I'm still learning the lesson
To waken when I hear the call
And if you ask me why I am still running
I'll tell you I run for us all
I run for hope
I run to feel
I run for the truth
For all that is real
I run for your mother your sister your wife
I run for you and me my friend
I run for life
And someday if they tell you about it
If the darkness knocks on your door
Remember her remember me
We will be running as we have before
Running for answers
Running for more
I run for hope
I run to feel
I run for the truth
For all that is real
I run for your mother your sister your daughter your wife
I run for you and me my friend
I run for life
The darkness her body possessed
And the scars are still there in the mirror
Everyday that she gets herself dressed
Though the pain is miles and miles behind her
And the fear is now a docile beast
If you ask her why she is still running
She'll tell you it makes her complete
I run for hope
I run to feel
I run for the truth
For all that is real
I run for your mother your sister your wife
I run for you and me my friend
I run for life
It's a blur since they told me about it
How the darkness had taken its toll
And they cut into my skin and they cut into my body
But they will never get a piece of my soul
And now I'm still learning the lesson
To waken when I hear the call
And if you ask me why I am still running
I'll tell you I run for us all
I run for hope
I run to feel
I run for the truth
For all that is real
I run for your mother your sister your wife
I run for you and me my friend
I run for life
And someday if they tell you about it
If the darkness knocks on your door
Remember her remember me
We will be running as we have before
Running for answers
Running for more
I run for hope
I run to feel
I run for the truth
For all that is real
I run for your mother your sister your daughter your wife
I run for you and me my friend
I run for life
Wednesday, January 25, 2006
Tuesday, January 24, 2006
Monday, January 23, 2006
Sunday, January 22, 2006
Saturday, January 21, 2006
Friday, January 20, 2006
My Words at Heather's Funeral
Words About Heather
Thank you each for being here. All of you are celebrating Heather’s life with us because you each, in your own way, traveled through this journey with her. You prayed for her, cried over her, empowered her or been empowered by her. You showered Heather with the kind of love that sustained her spirit and we thank you. And so I want to share with you a couple of thoughts on behalf of the Gardner and Starcher families.
You each know the courage and faith Heather demonstrated throughout her fight over the past year and a half. We take comfort in this and also in the belief that Heather did not have to physically conquer her illness to beat it. Heather overcame this disease time and time again with each challenge she faced. Oh yes, we saw Heather beat this disease.
We saw her beat it in the way she steeled herself when finding out her diagnosis. We saw her beat it with her reaction to finding out she would not be able to conceive – "we’ll adopt". We saw her beat it when she went to work at the same time she took chemo and
radiation. We saw her beat it in the way she rebounded after finding out it spread. And we saw her beat it each time she put in her Billy Bob teeth to make someone laugh.
Heather’s spirit did more than beat this disease, it destroyed it.
Heather felt all would be worthwhile if a miracle was born out of her challenges and suffering. We saw many miracles amid all the pain.
We saw a miracle in people coming back into the church or finding faith where they did not think they had any. We saw a miracle in the hundreds and hundreds of people praying daily for Heather. We saw a miracle in family members finding each other again or strengthening their bonds. We saw a miracle in Heather’s medical professionals taking strength in the unique way she approached her disease. And we saw a miracle in people becoming more educated on and active in the fight against breast cancer.
Heather’s faith was the foundation of her spirit and to witness these and other miracles is to see through the heartache to the beauty in Heather’s experience. Take your example for faithfulness from Heather. Each day, she held herself in the belief that God does not give you more than you can handle. And through even the toughest of times, Heather strengthened her faith when others might have questioned theirs.
A friend once told me a spirit that shines brightly is the one not meant to be with us long. This was a hard concept for us to understand. But when we look back, Heather’s spirit was blinding. In her 26 years, she experienced:
a lifetime’s worth of laughter and joy,
a lifetime’s worth of faith,
and a lifetime’s worth of love – after all, she met her soul mate in Jason.
So we can miss Heather and be sad for our loss, but Heather would never allow us to feel sorry for her. Feeling sorry for Heather is the antithesis of the way she lived her life, and if you knew anything about Heather, you would not dare do anything to make her mad. She was difficult when angered here on Earth, can you imagine angering her now?
I guess the last thing I wish to leave you with is the sense of Heather. She will be with us each and every day. She will be all around us. Along with organizing the grandest of bingo games, Heather will be our greatest advocate. Heather will look down to make sure that Jason is protected and has a beautiful life, that her two families find strength they didn’t know they had, and that her girlfriends carry on in her name. She will look down and empower us when we are lonely and be there with us at night when we awake. And anywhere there is beauty, there you will find Heather. She was defined by butterflies, angels, dragonflies and the symbol she grew to love, the breast cancer ribbon. So each time you see one of these:
think of our Heavenly angel,
take comfort in the way she lived her life and in the peace she found through her faith,
and smile knowing Heather is up there taking charge of those looking down on you.
Thank you each for being here. All of you are celebrating Heather’s life with us because you each, in your own way, traveled through this journey with her. You prayed for her, cried over her, empowered her or been empowered by her. You showered Heather with the kind of love that sustained her spirit and we thank you. And so I want to share with you a couple of thoughts on behalf of the Gardner and Starcher families.
You each know the courage and faith Heather demonstrated throughout her fight over the past year and a half. We take comfort in this and also in the belief that Heather did not have to physically conquer her illness to beat it. Heather overcame this disease time and time again with each challenge she faced. Oh yes, we saw Heather beat this disease.
We saw her beat it in the way she steeled herself when finding out her diagnosis. We saw her beat it with her reaction to finding out she would not be able to conceive – "we’ll adopt". We saw her beat it when she went to work at the same time she took chemo and
radiation. We saw her beat it in the way she rebounded after finding out it spread. And we saw her beat it each time she put in her Billy Bob teeth to make someone laugh.
Heather’s spirit did more than beat this disease, it destroyed it.
Heather felt all would be worthwhile if a miracle was born out of her challenges and suffering. We saw many miracles amid all the pain.
We saw a miracle in people coming back into the church or finding faith where they did not think they had any. We saw a miracle in the hundreds and hundreds of people praying daily for Heather. We saw a miracle in family members finding each other again or strengthening their bonds. We saw a miracle in Heather’s medical professionals taking strength in the unique way she approached her disease. And we saw a miracle in people becoming more educated on and active in the fight against breast cancer.
Heather’s faith was the foundation of her spirit and to witness these and other miracles is to see through the heartache to the beauty in Heather’s experience. Take your example for faithfulness from Heather. Each day, she held herself in the belief that God does not give you more than you can handle. And through even the toughest of times, Heather strengthened her faith when others might have questioned theirs.
A friend once told me a spirit that shines brightly is the one not meant to be with us long. This was a hard concept for us to understand. But when we look back, Heather’s spirit was blinding. In her 26 years, she experienced:
a lifetime’s worth of laughter and joy,
a lifetime’s worth of faith,
and a lifetime’s worth of love – after all, she met her soul mate in Jason.
So we can miss Heather and be sad for our loss, but Heather would never allow us to feel sorry for her. Feeling sorry for Heather is the antithesis of the way she lived her life, and if you knew anything about Heather, you would not dare do anything to make her mad. She was difficult when angered here on Earth, can you imagine angering her now?
I guess the last thing I wish to leave you with is the sense of Heather. She will be with us each and every day. She will be all around us. Along with organizing the grandest of bingo games, Heather will be our greatest advocate. Heather will look down to make sure that Jason is protected and has a beautiful life, that her two families find strength they didn’t know they had, and that her girlfriends carry on in her name. She will look down and empower us when we are lonely and be there with us at night when we awake. And anywhere there is beauty, there you will find Heather. She was defined by butterflies, angels, dragonflies and the symbol she grew to love, the breast cancer ribbon. So each time you see one of these:
think of our Heavenly angel,
take comfort in the way she lived her life and in the peace she found through her faith,
and smile knowing Heather is up there taking charge of those looking down on you.
Wednesday, January 18, 2006
Heather in The Akron Beacon Journal
Heather (Gardner) Starcher
On September 29, 2002, Heather (Gardner) Starcher, our 26-year-old newly wedded angel, wife of Jason Starcher and daughter of Robert and Rebecca Gardner, became our Heavenly angel as she left us to be with our Lord. On April 20, 2002, two families were united as Heather Gardner married Jason Starcher. These two families became one long before Heather’s wedding day though, as "Team Heather" was formed in early 2001 upon her diagnosis of breast cancer. Heather may no longer be with us, but she won her battle over cancer with each of her smiles that lit a room, in each of her heart-felt laughs, through every person she touched with her strength, and in the grace, faith and fortitude with which she met her enormous challenges.
Heather, a 1994 graduate of Manchester High School and a 1999 graduate of The University of Akron, made it a purpose in life to lighten the hearts of others with her smile and her warm touch. As a member of St. Francis De Sales Parish, Heather drew on her faith and prayer with the onset of each new obstacle. It was Heather’s family and friends that helped her to be able to stay positive, but it was undoubtedly Heather’s belief in God that enabled her to touch so many.
Heather added her own special influence to the Gardner Insurance Agency, where she worked with her father, Robert, for over six years. It was her career goal to succeed her father and assume the ownership of the agency. Heather greeted each new face with a welcoming air and took quality time to speak with clients and professionals alike.
Heather participated in The National Race for the Cure in Washington, D.C. for the past two years and offered herself to speak around Northeast Ohio on the importance of early detection and treatment for breast cancer. As a big sister, in the Big Brothers & Big Sisters Program for over six years, Heather was excited to help improve the quality of life for one less fortunate. It was a goal of Heather’s to make her little sister, Jolene, feel wanted and loved and Heather was dedicated to that effort. Heather also felt extremely fortunate to work with children with disabilities as a volunteer counselor for Camp Wonderlung. Heather enjoyed the escape she provided these very special children.
Heather leaves behind, to go on in her spirit, her dedicated and beloved husband of five months, Jason Starcher of Akron; parents, Robert and Rebecca Gardner of Akron; brother, Shawn Gardner of Washington, D.C.; sister, Renee Gardner of Jacksonville, FL; grandparents, Harvey and Flora Bridgeman of Dennison, OH; parents in law, Roland and Sandra Starcher of Akron; brother in law and sister in law, Scott and Dee Green and nephews, Logan and Nicholas, all of Akron; brother in law and sister in law, Sean and Jennifer Starcher and nieces, Morgan and Miranda, all of Akron; her indomitable circle of best friends, Jennifer Soles, Julie Carpenter, Tracy Young, Angela Rea and Raeal Moore, all of Akron and Columbus; and many many relatives and friends.
Along with countless others who prayed for her, laughed with her, cried over her and were touched by her larger-than-life spirit, the lives of these twenty-two relatives will forever be changed by having witnessed the courage in Heather’s battle. All but Heather’s spirit was taken from her, and so it is in this that we endeavor to embrace the beauty, joy and love of life and family. We will forever love and miss you Heather, our Heavenly angel, until we see each other again.
On September 29, 2002, Heather (Gardner) Starcher, our 26-year-old newly wedded angel, wife of Jason Starcher and daughter of Robert and Rebecca Gardner, became our Heavenly angel as she left us to be with our Lord. On April 20, 2002, two families were united as Heather Gardner married Jason Starcher. These two families became one long before Heather’s wedding day though, as "Team Heather" was formed in early 2001 upon her diagnosis of breast cancer. Heather may no longer be with us, but she won her battle over cancer with each of her smiles that lit a room, in each of her heart-felt laughs, through every person she touched with her strength, and in the grace, faith and fortitude with which she met her enormous challenges.
Heather, a 1994 graduate of Manchester High School and a 1999 graduate of The University of Akron, made it a purpose in life to lighten the hearts of others with her smile and her warm touch. As a member of St. Francis De Sales Parish, Heather drew on her faith and prayer with the onset of each new obstacle. It was Heather’s family and friends that helped her to be able to stay positive, but it was undoubtedly Heather’s belief in God that enabled her to touch so many.
Heather added her own special influence to the Gardner Insurance Agency, where she worked with her father, Robert, for over six years. It was her career goal to succeed her father and assume the ownership of the agency. Heather greeted each new face with a welcoming air and took quality time to speak with clients and professionals alike.
Heather participated in The National Race for the Cure in Washington, D.C. for the past two years and offered herself to speak around Northeast Ohio on the importance of early detection and treatment for breast cancer. As a big sister, in the Big Brothers & Big Sisters Program for over six years, Heather was excited to help improve the quality of life for one less fortunate. It was a goal of Heather’s to make her little sister, Jolene, feel wanted and loved and Heather was dedicated to that effort. Heather also felt extremely fortunate to work with children with disabilities as a volunteer counselor for Camp Wonderlung. Heather enjoyed the escape she provided these very special children.
Heather leaves behind, to go on in her spirit, her dedicated and beloved husband of five months, Jason Starcher of Akron; parents, Robert and Rebecca Gardner of Akron; brother, Shawn Gardner of Washington, D.C.; sister, Renee Gardner of Jacksonville, FL; grandparents, Harvey and Flora Bridgeman of Dennison, OH; parents in law, Roland and Sandra Starcher of Akron; brother in law and sister in law, Scott and Dee Green and nephews, Logan and Nicholas, all of Akron; brother in law and sister in law, Sean and Jennifer Starcher and nieces, Morgan and Miranda, all of Akron; her indomitable circle of best friends, Jennifer Soles, Julie Carpenter, Tracy Young, Angela Rea and Raeal Moore, all of Akron and Columbus; and many many relatives and friends.
Along with countless others who prayed for her, laughed with her, cried over her and were touched by her larger-than-life spirit, the lives of these twenty-two relatives will forever be changed by having witnessed the courage in Heather’s battle. All but Heather’s spirit was taken from her, and so it is in this that we endeavor to embrace the beauty, joy and love of life and family. We will forever love and miss you Heather, our Heavenly angel, until we see each other again.
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