One Heck of a Life: "one Heck of a life" The story.

I will be the first to admit that we have the one of the most uncommon stories on "how did you two meet?" than most. It's a fun dinner conversation when we are out with people we don't know very well. It's perfect for a conversation starter with hard-to-talk to people as well. The best part is seeing people's facial expressions when the first hear about how we met.

Brian and I met in 2006. We were both in a Pittsburgh hospital for the same reason...the reason: My sister Kimberly.

My sister Kim and I were adopted at birth {She is 3 years older than I am}. When Kim decided to reunite with her birth mother, Angie, in 1997. I was there by her side. She not only met her birth mother, but her 1/2 sister Alisha. Kim's sister, Alisha is 7 years younger than her. When I met them I was blown away by the similarities Kim shared with them. It was crazy since my sister was obviously not raised by Angie or with Alisha, but their expressions, voices, looks and body movements were crazy similar. Let me just tell you, there is much to be said about nature vs. nurture.

Now fast forward to 2006. Over the years my sister built a great relationship with Angie and Alisha regardless of the miles between them; they all lived in different states (Pennsylvania, Alaska and Florida). I was living in Milwaukee in 2006 when I received a phone call from my dad telling me my sister Kim was admitted to the hospital in Pittsburgh to remove a brain tumor that was the size of a lemon. For months they had treated her symptoms (headaches and sinus pressure) as a sinus infection. It was not until they did an MRI that they learned it was not a sinus infection but a tumor so large it was pushing against her sinus' and everything else in there. Kim had always been healthy as far as we all knew until that day. Before I move on to how Brian and I met, let me say that my sister is alive and cancer free today. After two brain surgeries and years of chemo and radiation the tumor is finally gone. She is still recovering with her husband and two sons, but it's been a long road. She is a miracle.

When Kim received the news that day and the surgery date was set, the phone calls went around to our entire family. We were spread all over the US. Alaska, Montana, Wisconsin, Virgina, Florida...you get the idea. Many of us flew to PA within 24 hours to be there. Angie and Alisha flew in as well. That was the first time I had seen them since I met them for the first time in 1997. That was also the time that I learned that my sister had a biolgical 1/2 brother that I never knew about. He also made the trip from Virginia to PA {over night} to support our family, his mom, Alisha and to see Kim. The reason I never met her brother before was because he was stationed in Germany at the time she met Angie and Alisha. Her brother's name is Brian...yep, you guessed it...the Brian Heck that I am now married to. I married my sister's brother! haha...it's a little joke in our family and it's been "One Heck of a life" since.

We truly know our story is amazing and unique and trust me when I say this part is only the tip of the ice burg to the "rest of the story". I just have to say this just so you all know...just because he is my sisters 1/2 brother does NOT make him mine! =) My sister Kim and I share different biological parents, but were raised by our mom and dad who adopted us and loved us as their own. Ok, I just had to get that out there. I know you are all smart, but I want it to be said! Yes, our family tree is ridiculous, but it's our family tree and we love it...the good and the bad=)

So, our story in a nutshell:
We met in February 2006...