Micah Heckman 1986 — 2004

This tribute is for my only daughter. From the moment I named her “Micah” I knew she would be special. She was not only my daughter, but my friend. I truly believe God put it in both of our hearts to spend so much time together during her high school years, because He knew she would be taken from me early in life. She was an artistic girl who loved to write poetry and kept many journals. She also had a pretty voice, one I never grew tired of listening to. She was pretty down-to-earth. When a boyfriend would come over, it was more the norm for her to show up at the door with sweat pants and a hoodie on, her hair tossed up on her head like she just climbed out of bed! Micah could be very opinionated and would be tough about alot of things, but she was also compassionate and cared about people. She was loved greatly by me, her dad, older brother Jeremy, family and friends.
I would like to share with you the events of my daughter’s death. It is a story that shows God’s amazing love even in the heartbreaking circumstances of life. My husband and I were on the cruise of a "lifetime" to Alaska. We left from Seattle on July 3rd. This was our first cruise ever, and we knew no one on board. The first night we met our eight tablemates at dinner. Before the main course was served, one of the tablemates, Mike, asked everyone to hold hands and say a prayer. We were the only other Christian couple at the table. We didn't have much of a chance to talk to Mike and his wife, Elsie, since they weren't seated next to us. The next night however they sat across from us. We got a chance to talk to them. They do prison ministry in New Mexico. We talked until we were the only ones left in the dining room, so Mike suggested we go to the lobby to continue our conversation. We told Mike and Elsie about our lives, how my husband is searching for a new purpose in his life with his work, and our two children, my son who was 21, and Micah who was 18. We asked them to especially keep our daughter in their prayers because she had just graduated early from high school and moved to a small town in Nebraska where my husband's family lives. She had her own apartment and was trying to figure out what to do next with her life. At that point, Mike told us that they were originally scheduled to go on a Christian cruise, but they felt the Lord leading them to our ship, the Oosterdam. They decided to follow what they were feeling, and just asked God to put them at a table with people who needed them. Then Mike looked at us and said he felt God put them on the Oosterdam for myself and my husband. I was surprised and thought maybe over the course of the week we could figure out with their help what God wanted my husband to do with his life, and they could continue to pray for our daughter and her life, etc. We said goodnight and each went to our staterooms. I fell asleep, and at 1:00 am the phone rang. It was my husband's brother from Nebraska telling us that our beautiful daughter had been in a car accident. They were flying her to the medical center in Scottsbluff and that her heart had already stopped once. We ran down to the main office and started the process of getting off the ship. We were in the middle of Alaska….. we even lost communication with our family for six long hours during the night. We asked the staff to please find Mike and Elsie. We knew nothing about them other than their first names and dinner table number. The staff found them, and when Elsie got to us, she was crying, and just said " NOW I know why the Lord wanted us to be on this ship". They stayed with us and prayed with us and helped us while we tried to get off the ship and back to Nebraska to be with our daughter. We did finally get off the ship at 9 am. A fishing boat came alongside the Oosterdam and we were able to climb down a rope ladder and get to Yakutat, Alaska. We were able to get on an Alaska Airlines jet to Anchorage. While on the plane, we were given a snack tray, and on the tray was a little card from Alaska Airlines with a picture of a sunset and the verse "Give thanks to the Lord for He is good, His love endures forever". I just looked at my husband, knowing God was speaking to us. We finally made it 33 agonizing hours later to my daughter's bedside. They kept her on life support until we got there, so we were able to kiss her and hold her and tell her how much we loved her before she left us to be with her Savior in heaven. We were approached by the hospital to donate her organs, which we agreed to do. Later at her wake, a friend from high school told us that during a unit on organ donation, Micah said she would definitely want to donate if she ever was in that situation. Micah donated to a 63-year old male, a 52-year old male, and a 57-year old female. I keep in contact with the donor office and know that all three are doing well, and we keep them in our prayers. I have written to them, and we have received letters back from the 63-year old man and the 52-year old man. The 63-year old became ill exactly one year before we were on the cruise, the same month, July, and the same ship as we were on, the Oosterdam, and in the same place, Alaska. He had to have an emergency evacuation off of the Oosterdam, just like us. We don't believe in coincidences, and are amazed how God used him as one of the recipients. He and his wife also lost a child twenty years earlier in an accident, so they know how we feel. Since the transplant, he is a new man. He is a husband, father, and grandfather, and they are forever grateful for this gift of life. The 52-year old man is also doing wonderfully. He thought he didn't have more than a few months to live when he got the call about Micah's donation. He asked our permission to put "MICAH" on his license plate and told us she will always be "singing" inside of him. We were able to meet him, almost two years after the transplant, and it was a joy to see him face to face and see how well he is doing. I pray that all of Micah's recipients have a saving faith in Jesus so she can meet all of them one day.
Micah was such a huge part of our lives and our hearts are broken. But our faith remains strong. We believe in a God that loved us so much that he sent Mike and Elsie to us so we wouldn't be alone when He took our girl to be with Him! Mike and Elsie also told us that the other couples who were part of our dinner table accepted Jesus over the course of the week, as well as the two Muslim ship workers who helped us with getting off of the ship. God works in ways we can't even begin to comprehend. He has been so faithful, even in this heartbreaking time in our lives. We miss Micah so much and think of her constantly and miss her so much, but we also know that God is a great God. He gives eternal life to anyone who will confess they are a sinner and accept His FREE gift of eternal life through the death and resurrection of His son, Jesus! We know the next time we see Micah it will be FOREVER!