By Carrie Pierce '18

I first met Cassie during our training to become residential assistants (RA) in August 2016, just before the start of our junior year at Lasell. We connected while we were volunteering with Cradles to Crayons during our training. We were “shoppers” together, choosing donated items for children in need from a list we were given. We named “our” kids and had so much fun together.

We really became close around my 21st birthday during the spring of our junior year. She took me out to celebrate and introduced me to her roommate, Danie Roberts ’18. We enjoyed traveling to Boston together and hanging out in each other’s rooms.

Cassie was a remarkable person. She was caring and compassionate and always supported her family and friends, but she was no pushover and stood up for herself. I remember as an RA how well she managed a belligerent resident who was talking over her and not listening. It was the first time I saw Cassie’s authoritative side. Here was this sweet, easy-going individual taking control of a challenging situation. It was at that moment that I realized what an amazing lawyer she was going to be.

If you talk to our group of friends, Cassie came into each of our lives when we needed a friend. She introduced us to one another and made us feel part of the group. Because of her, we all still have each other.

I have so many wonderful memories of our time together. During our junior year, I invited Cassie to see The King and I with me after I found out that she liked musicals, too. Rather than take the T all the way to the Boston Opera House, Cassie insisted that we get off at the Fenway stop and walk the rest of the way. I told her she was crazy, but we did it anyway, and I’ll never forget the experience. There we were in our dresses (who doesn’t like to dress up to go to the theater?) on a hot spring day walking through Boston. We laughed the entire way, talking and picking on each other. We got to our seats just as the show started. I was thinking to myself: If we had missed the opening act, I would have blamed her, but we had such an amazing time getting there that I wouldn’t have been mad.

During our senior year, we decided to watch The Sound of Music in my room with our friend and fellow RA, Emma Helstrom ’20. During the scene when Maria teaches Kurt how to dance, Cassie and I decided to dance together in the room. Fortunately, Emma took a video of us dancing. As we’re dancing, you hear Cassie say, “Who’s leading?” and I respond, “I don’t know.” We both shrug our shoulders and just keep dancing. It ended with a dip that sent us laughing to the point of tears.

When I found out that Cassie had passed way I was completely in shock. I couldn’t talk and had to cut my call with Danie short after she told me. I looked at my boyfriend and said, “Cassie’s gone,” and broke down in tears. She was so young and had so much life left to live. I couldn’t believe that my best friend was gone.

The last time I saw her was at our Commencement. Work and life kept us from seeing each other, but we checked in every so often to see how one another was and try to arrange a get-together. I have a picture of the two of us together after Commencement just before she left campus. When I look at it now, I realize that was my last moment with her. If I had known that at the time, I would never have let her go.

To memorialize her friendship with Cassie, Carrie designed a tile (seen in banner above) for Lasell’s UBelong mural project. The design featured an otter (Cassie’s favorite animal) with a “C” for their shared first initials and “18” for their class year. “I couldn’t think of a better way to honor her than with a permanent place at Lasell,” Carrie says.