My Speech at Service

I thought I would tell the story of how we met because to me, it’s one of the best examples of Cassandra’s personality. Cassandra and I met after high school in 2003 when we had both entered flight school to become pilots. Along with the many flight classes we had to take we also had general elective classes just like any college major. So we had a bright and early 7:30 am English class.

Now, if she was telling you the story this is the part where she would tell you that after getting out of her car she slipped and fell into a mud puddle in the parking lot. So for her, the first day of college wasn’t going all that well. But to be honest with all of you, I never noticed the mud. She was the most beautiful woman I had ever seen and she just so happened to walk into my English class. I remember that I was sitting near the front of the class and Cassandra sat behind me near the middle. The professor wanted our small class of about 20 to introduce ourselves since it was the first day.

 To give a little back story to myself at the time, I was lucky enough to start flying lessons just before my 16^th birthday. I was pretty proud of that fact and by the time I went to flight school I was way ahead of most of the students. So when I see a chance to impress the gorgeous girl who just walked in I took it. When it was my turn to introduce myself I stood up and said “Hi, my name is Eric. I am from Monett Missouri and I’m a pilot and I am here to complete my training and become a professional pilot.” And to finish it off, I’m not so sure I didn’t toss a wink and a single gun her way just for added affect.

The professor exclaimed “Wow, I don’t think I have had a pilot before, how exciting!” in my head I reclined in my chair cool as a cucumber and watched the women fawn over me, including Cassandra, as I’m sure I said “I know, it IS exciting.” Little did I know at the time that someone had told Cassandra that women couldn’t be good pilots. So for her, an arrogant guy standing up and bragging about it probably didn’t sit well with her.

I couldn’t wait for Cassandra to introduce herself. I wanted to know her name. After most of the class went Cassandra finally stood up. She smiled at me as she started to speak “Hi, my name is Cassie, I am from Springdale, AR and I am also training to become a pilot. I’m just not so cocky about it.”

That was Cassandra, there was nobody like her. She had the perfect mix of stubbornness and drive that made anything possible for her. A couple of days before Cassandra passed I was sitting next to her bed. She could still talk at this point but most of the time she didn’t recognize me or her family. She was laying there and I was holding her hand and suddenly she opened her eyes and looked at me and said “Hey, don’t get any ideas, I am married to a great guy.” I told her I wouldn’t think of it. She then started to hold my hand like we were going to arm wrestle. I asked her “are we going to arm wrestle? I think you are stronger than me.” She smiled at me and said “I am strong because I have to be, see, I have cancer and if I am not strong I don’t get to see my Elliot or my husband.” She fought every day to see the ones she loved. It was a battle every day and she did it smiling. So, in the end she went quickly because she had given everything. I know now that all of us have to be strong and go on without her. For me, I have to go on and raise my son the way she would have wanted. In true Cassandra form her final wishes are a pretty short and concise list of dos and don’ts. However, her Christmas list that details everything she did for Elliot is 2 pages long. I have some impossibly big shoes to fill without her here but I know I have the support of my and her family. Ill finish up by quoting Cassandra from one of her writings on her blog. “Today is for processing, tomorrow is for getting things done.” And it really is for getting things done because I have a 2 page list of Christmas preparations to start knocking out.