06/15/2012
Written for the upcoming medical grant symposium for the Brain Aneurysm Foundation that will recognize Cassie, and donate $10,000 (MGEG raised $4,000 of this) to a doctor working on aneurysm research to help future families:
Remembering Cassandra Sophia Hill (4/24/90-2/1/11)
I remember peering up at her sunburned arms and face to see her bright red lips, from the Kool-Aid she had been drinking, and her big bright green eyes to hear her demand “Let me have a slice of Pizza”. I responded, “Who the hell is this girl?” to my friends around me because she had been mimicking “Old Greg”, and saying she was from England in a British accent all day on the beach; I was perplexed by her and thought she was strange, in an amazing way. I said “No”, and we kind-heartedly argued as I ate the last slice. One week later we were dating, and in two weeks we were in love. Cassandra Sophia Hill came into my life as a whirlwind that took me by surprise and confronted me with feelings I had never felt for someone else. She was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen, and yet the strangest, and it worked for us; as she put it, we were a “power couple”.
Cass loved Asian culture, she was enamored with it, so much so that she began to convince her school to create a major for Chinese, which she was already minoring in. She studied Mandarin constantly, decorated her new apartment in all things “Zen”, and went on a trip with a friend to Hong Kong in October 2010. She wanted to get a tattoo soon, and had chosen a design of two Koi fish swimming in a circle, which she then painted on canvas and hung in her apartment. It was not just her fascination with different cultures and yearning for serenity that made her peculiar either, it was her intense, and hilarious, sense of humor. Being around Cass for only hour usually left everyone around her in tears from laughing so hard. She picked on her friends and herself, always without malice, and came up with strange voices and personalities that would send a room into an uproar. Her family was a huge inspiration for this, and her friends and sorority sisters accented, accommodated and laughed along with her. Still it did not stop there. Cassie was very deep and intellectual too, a side that not many got to see, and what I am eternally grateful to have experienced. She thought about life, existence, she wrote, and read, and had long talks with me about all of these aspects. She loved life, every aspect of it. Even if she was sad, she was able to help calm people down, put things in perspective, and when she couldn’t do this to herself, I, usually, helped her. Her friends, family, and I were her solace when anything bothered her, and she was always there for them in the same way.
Before Cass could ever got the tattoo she wanted, on February 1, 2011 she suffered from a brain aneurysm that lead to severe hemorrhaging, leaving her brain-dead. What was left behind was a confused and devastated community, boyfriend, friends, and family. No one could understand or make sense of such an illuminated person and personality, being extinguished so quickly, and without warning or an explanation. In truth no one has yet to have made any sense of it either; what we have all done, together, is just focus on the good she brought to so many people, and try to forget what happened that day. When Cassie passed away she was 20yrs old, a double major in business management and marketing, a minor in Chinese, and a senior, one semester ahead of time, with plans to move to Taiwan to teach English as a second language with me after she graduated. Since then her friends have hosted fundraisers for her foundation, My Green Eyed Girl Inc., and for her scholarship fund at High Point University. They have made rocking chairs, park benches, tree and flower gardens, t-shirts, and banners to celebrate their friend. It’s quite amazing how much has been done in Cassie’s name since that day, and it hasn’t stopped over a year later. I created MGEG to help myself get through the loss of my best friend and girlfriend, to help keep Cassie’s name around and to honor her, while also giving people that she touched in her life something to contribute to in her name. This feat has been reached, and I think this is the best time to give the funds to a foundation that would put all the money raised towards research to hopefully help other families, friends, and loved ones from ever having to lose someone to this tragic disease. Cassie, always wanted to help people that had less than her, or simply needed help, so I know this would be what she would want today if she was here.
To the most amazing person I've ever met and spent time with. I love you beautiful and always will. You will always be my girl Cassie.
Your Hubby
Chris
“If people bring so much courage to this world the world has to kill them to break them, so of course it kills them. The world breaks every one and afterward many are strong at the broken places. But those that will not break it kills. It kills the very good and the very gentle and the very brave impartially. If you are none of these you can be sure it will kill you too but there will be no special hurry” (Hemingway A Farewell to Arms 249)
To everyone at the Brain Aneurysm Foundation:
Thank you for all you do. The information on your site helped me get through the hardest thing I've ever had to go through, and I thank you from the bottom of my heart for making such an amazing foundation.
Sincerely
Christopher W. Thurley
