Stay tuned to meet a couple
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that turned
tragedy into triumph.
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My name is Yvonne Lewis
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and you're
watching Urban Report.
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Hello and
welcome to Urban Report.
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My guests today are
Rod and Mary Cassidy,
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President and Vice
President respectively
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of Brianna's Wings
of Passion Foundation.
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Welcome to Urban
Report Rod and Mary.
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Thank you.
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Wow! I almost
don't know where to start
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because yours is a
story of such intensity
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and something that no
parent wants to deal with
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but before we get into
that part of your journey
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tell us a little
bit about yourselves,
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Mary, where were you
born, where are you from?
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Southern California,
I was there for well...
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for quite a long time
and went to school there
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but I came from a
real dysfunctional family,
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my father was an alcoholic,
he left when I was four,
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so my mom raised
eight of us on her own
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and that was a lot of
tragedy within the home too
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because there was just so much
oh... stress and you know...
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but having my dad there,
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he was very abusive to
all my brothers and sisters
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so, that was just a
really hard time for all of us
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him being an alcoholic
and being around like he was
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but there was always
violence in our family,
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my brothers grew
up in the same path
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incarcerated one after another,
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and just violence
constantly in our family
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yeah, so, it was
a hard upbringing.
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Yeah, yeah, and were you
a Christian as a child or...
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I was a
Catholic, we were Catholics
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but my mom was
raised in a Convent
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for a very small portion of time
after her father passed away
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so we weren't just "Catholics"
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we were Catholics, we
didn't just go to church,
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we were really
Catholics and so...
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but that's a whole 'nother
story how the Lord led me...
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led us, after my mom got cancer,
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she was supposed to
die within six months
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when she found out, she
lived seven years after that
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and we came into
the Adventist message,
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and it was just by
moving next door to a neighbor,
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so that's a whole
'nother story on that.
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Praise the Lord.
Yeah, so, thank God.
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Yes, yes, what about you, Rod?
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I also was raised
in Southern California,
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and the struggles we
had were not quite the same
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by 12 or 13, I
had a broken home,
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there was a lot
of fighting, arguing,
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my parents split up and so
there was increasing tension
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especially into my teen years,
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and at age 17, I went away
to my Uncle's in Walla Walla,
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spent the summer
there, he had a farm,
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and I'd spend time with him,
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and that's really where I began
to have spiritual awakening.
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My cousin had a big
influence on my life,
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and it helped me
get connected with God,
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so not as traumatic as my wife,
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but still there was stress
and dysfunction in the family.
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Hmmm... now how
did you two meet?
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We met in high
school at the academy
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when I was blessed to be
able to go through the System,
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School System, and we met,
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we were high school sweethearts
and so we were actually...
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once we got married, we
were married for ten years
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before we even
had our first child,
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we didn't want
any kids that was...
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we both agreed on that
coming from the brokenness...
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that we said, "We
don't want any kids"
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and we were still supporting
some of our own family members,
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so... but the
Lord had other plans
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so ten years later,
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we had our first
and only child, Brianna.
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Tell us about Brianna.
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Boy! there's so much to tell,
we raised her in the country,
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we had really sought the
Lord to direct us in raising her
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because, as I said,
we came from brokenness,
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and so, for us,
it was the country,
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we wanted to have
her just be able to...
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just to be in
the mountain areas,
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and also, I homeschooled her,
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but that really put a
stress on us financially
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because my husband
and I prayed about it
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and he said, "You know
what, if that's the case,
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I want you to stay home,
home school her and raise her"
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and so, that was... we
went into it with that.
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So you made a huge sacrifice
to just have one income
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to raise your daughter.
Hmmm... hmmm... correct.
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And for most of
her growing years,
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it was one income so we
had the financial stress
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that we were
continually dealing with.
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What was she like,
what's Brianna like?
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Well, she's a
lot like her mother
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strong willed,
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determined, she's a
naturally-born leader
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when she set her mind to
do something, she would do it
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but growing up
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as my wife alluded to,
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we come from
broken homes, all of us,
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and Brianna, I think
through the bloodline
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and through other relatives,
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she experienced feelings
of rejection and abandonment.
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Rejection and abandonment
from you or from school or...?
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No, from relatives. Okay.
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Because you get them together
with cousins and families
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and grandparents,
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she was real close to
her grandfather though
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which was a good thing,
but he passed away in 2009,
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and so another dose of,
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"Why has this
happened in my life?"
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So she struggled with
these things growing up,
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she was also a loner,
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because she had
excelled so early on,
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she loved to read books,
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that her age group
could not really relate to her
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and so she related a lot better
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with people two and
three times her age.
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Now she was
homeschooled, you said,
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did she have
friends at church or...?
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Oh yes, she was
very involved in church,
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she ran the
cameras at our church
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and so she got into Media,
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she was actually the
youngest that they allowed
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behind the camera, she
was just 12 when she started
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and so they saw though
that she was very mature,
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like my husband
said, so they went ahead
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and allowed her
to get started on it
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and that's what
started her love about Media,
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and editing and all of that,
so she really enjoyed that.
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Oh, so she had a love
for Media and editing.
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Oh yeah, yeah, yes, yes
and we didn't subject her to
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a lot of the devices
that the kids are now using,
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and actually just recently,
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she had told us how
thankful she was for that,
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because she said,
"I can actually think
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when I'm reading and my
mind isn't going all over
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because she's been so
un-inundated by electronics,
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so, even though
she was good at them,
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that wasn't
her... you know, so...
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We have some pictures
because we're talking about her
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and I'd like to put
some pictures up of her
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so that our audience can
see what she looked like.
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This is Briana
with her dog, Yuki,
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she named her Yuki because
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Brianna was learning
the Japanese language
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and so, it's "snow" in Japanese
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she rescued her from Tennessee,
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so this was a
picture she took with her.
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Awww... This is
her Senior picture
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her graduating Senior
picture from high school,
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yeah. This picture is
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when she went on her
first mission trip to Panama
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Ah... and
that's where the desire
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to be more involved...
become involved in missions
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really took hold,
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from here she went
on another mission trip,
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this is when she went to
Japan just two years ago,
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and there was a
whole story behind that
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she took that picture,
remember she was a photographer.
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Oh, so see, I didn't know that.
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So she took over
a thousand pictures
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including this one
in Japan. Beautiful.
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And this one, she
actually got First Place
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from a Photography Company,
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they gave her First
Place for that picture,
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the jellyfish, yes, so...
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This is the picture that
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has become precious to us
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that I think she also
took a couple of years ago.
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This was at the actual
airport that she worked at,
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she was also getting
her mechanics license,
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on top of being a pilot,
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so this was one of her favorite
planes because of the color.
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Look at how
well rounded she was.
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She just had a lot of interests,
she was a scuba diver,
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master scuba diver, a pilot,
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photographer,
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she was working on
her AMP at the airport
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and she played the violin.
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My! and how old was she?
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She was nineteen. Nineteen.
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Tell us about
2014, what happened?
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2014 was a very
difficult year for us
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for a number of reasons,
one, I could not find work
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I was applying for jobs
all over and for some reason
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I had interviews,
nothing was coming through,
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then finally by the fall time,
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October, my wife and I
were watching a 3abn Program
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on missions, and at
the end of the Program
00:10:00.70\00:10:04.30
they mentioned about
their need for a Bookkeeper,
00:10:04.33\00:10:06.80
and I'm an Accountant by
trade, so we got the idea
00:10:06.84\00:10:11.01
and we started
praying about that
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and I said, "Why don't
we contact some ministries
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and see if I can do some
bookkeeping remotely online"
00:10:16.51\00:10:19.65
Hmmm... hmmm...
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so the next day, I put a
couple of letters together
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and sent them off
to two ministries,
00:10:23.39\00:10:24.99
well the day after that,
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I got a response from
one of them right away
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and Pastor Bill wrote me
and he called me and he says,
00:10:29.69\00:10:33.03
"This is just what we need,
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we've been
looking for a bookkeeper
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somebody who can help get
our financial picture... "
00:10:37.20\00:10:39.70
And how long had you
been out of work at the time?
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All year, about
nine to ten months.
00:10:42.27\00:10:44.34
Oh, a whole year! Wow!
00:10:44.37\00:10:46.04
So when this
happened, we thought
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maybe this is what the
Lord has been waiting on
00:10:47.44\00:10:49.81
they said, we have a
Retreat coming up this weekend,
00:10:49.84\00:10:52.25
we'd love to have you,
00:10:52.28\00:10:53.65
come down and we can make
sure that this is the right fit,
00:10:53.68\00:10:57.59
I did and it was a tremendous
fit so they put me on a salary
00:10:57.62\00:11:01.82
so I was beginning to
receive at least a compensation
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that helped, wasn't fully,
but at least the rent was paid.
00:11:04.79\00:11:09.33
Excuse me one
second, so in the meantime,
00:11:09.40\00:11:12.37
because for
years, you had worked
00:11:12.40\00:11:15.27
and you, Mary, had
stayed home with Brianna,
00:11:15.34\00:11:18.91
so at this point,
neither of you was working
00:11:18.94\00:11:22.48
or were you working, Mary?
00:11:22.51\00:11:24.21
Actually, we had
a little savings,
00:11:24.25\00:11:27.28
we used that up
and I began to work
00:11:27.32\00:11:30.29
just like barely part time,
00:11:30.35\00:11:32.05
that's all I
could find in our area
00:11:32.09\00:11:34.32
and my husband
couldn't find anything.
00:11:34.36\00:11:37.23
So, it was really
hard, very difficult.
00:11:37.29\00:11:40.06
Yes, very stressful. Oh, yeah.
00:11:40.10\00:11:41.70
At the same time,
00:11:41.76\00:11:43.10
that I joined up
with the Ministry,
00:11:43.13\00:11:46.10
Brianna had started
working at a Department Store,
00:11:46.13\00:11:49.14
she knew the
financial difficulties
00:11:49.17\00:11:51.37
we were going
through and she thought
00:11:51.44\00:11:53.61
she wanted to finish up the
next rating in her aviation,
00:11:53.64\00:11:59.01
commercially, and she thought,
00:11:59.05\00:12:00.45
"If I have to get a job and
contribute that way, I'll do it"
00:12:00.52\00:12:03.39
and so she applied
and she got the position,
00:12:03.42\00:12:05.72
and excelled
very quickly in Kohls,
00:12:05.75\00:12:09.79
and that's another story too,
00:12:09.82\00:12:11.16
but this
happened at the same time
00:12:11.19\00:12:14.10
that I started working,
00:12:14.10\00:12:15.43
so we began to see a
game plan, here, formulate.
00:12:15.46\00:12:18.80
Then, a little
over a month later,
00:12:18.83\00:12:24.31
oh, God gave us a blessing,
00:12:24.34\00:12:26.84
additional blessing, I'll
let my wife share with you.
00:12:26.94\00:12:29.71
It was really
difficult, of course,
00:12:29.74\00:12:31.38
as he said, during that time,
00:12:31.41\00:12:32.95
some people have
savings and they think,
00:12:32.98\00:12:35.25
just having to tap into their
savings... that's difficult,
00:12:35.32\00:12:38.42
we didn't have a
safety net at all,
00:12:38.45\00:12:42.16
so, I had a friend that I was...
00:12:42.19\00:12:45.73
the Lord just really put it on
my heart that I was to help him
00:12:45.76\00:12:50.00
and I'm thinking,
00:12:50.03\00:12:51.37
"You must be
telling the wrong person,
00:12:51.40\00:12:53.47
because, there's
no money to help him,"
00:12:53.50\00:12:55.87
you know, the money
I had, I had just made,
00:12:55.90\00:12:58.24
was going to be to get propane
00:12:58.27\00:13:00.41
and I'm thinking,
"there is just no way"
00:13:00.48\00:13:03.45
and the Holy Spirit
would not let me go,
00:13:03.48\00:13:06.41
He kept on... so
I wrote him a check
00:13:06.45\00:13:08.92
I told my husband when I
got home and he was like...
00:13:08.95\00:13:12.19
"Well if that was the
Lord... we need to be obedient"
00:13:12.22\00:13:15.42
so he moved away,
our friend moved away,
00:13:15.46\00:13:18.96
and several months later,
00:13:18.99\00:13:22.36
after my husband got this
little stipend he was getting
00:13:22.40\00:13:25.83
and Brianna starts working on
top of working at the airport,
00:13:25.87\00:13:29.34
he calls me up one morning,
and this morning I was just...
00:13:29.37\00:13:32.81
I told the Lord, "I
cannot take it anymore,
00:13:32.84\00:13:35.08
either we're doing
something wrong... "
00:13:35.11\00:13:37.61
I was in that
mindset of Job's friends,
00:13:37.65\00:13:40.28
I'm doing something
wrong, and I thought,
00:13:40.32\00:13:42.52
"I just don't know what to
do, I cannot do this anymore"
00:13:42.58\00:13:45.19
that morning, he calls
me, and he says, "Mary"
00:13:45.22\00:13:48.79
and I said, "Yes,
how are you doing,
00:13:48.82\00:13:50.19
we've been praying for you"
00:13:50.23\00:13:51.56
and so he says, "You know what?"
00:13:51.59\00:13:53.09
he says, "Remember when
you helped me months ago"
00:13:53.13\00:13:55.40
I said, "Yeah" he says, "Well"
00:13:55.43\00:13:56.80
because he's a
veteran, "I got some back pay,"
00:13:56.83\00:13:59.40
so he says, "I want to give
you ten times what you gave me,"
00:13:59.43\00:14:03.71
and I was already in tears,
I was crying and I was like...
00:14:03.74\00:14:07.84
I was just pleading
to the Lord that morning,
00:14:07.88\00:14:10.35
and so I said,
"Are you serious?"
00:14:10.38\00:14:13.45
And he said, "Yes" so
I told him what happened,
00:14:13.52\00:14:16.02
I was just praying, and he says,
00:14:16.05\00:14:17.95
"So how's Brianna?" and I said,
00:14:17.99\00:14:19.82
"Well, she's a
little down, she's got a job
00:14:19.85\00:14:22.19
we're thankful for
that we prayed to the Lord,
00:14:22.22\00:14:24.53
the Lord got her a job but
00:14:24.56\00:14:26.03
she can't finish
her commercial license
00:14:26.06\00:14:28.56
because we can't
really help her right now"
00:14:28.60\00:14:30.77
he says, "How
much does she need?"
00:14:30.83\00:14:32.30
so I told him, he
says, "You know what,
00:14:32.37\00:14:34.44
I'm in the car right now,
talking to you on my Bluetooth
00:14:34.47\00:14:37.47
I'm heading to the Bank,
00:14:37.51\00:14:38.84
I'll put that money in
her account this morning"
00:14:38.87\00:14:41.04
and I said, "What?" and he said,
00:14:41.08\00:14:42.44
"I want to provide for
her, I want to sponsor somebody
00:14:42.48\00:14:46.41
who's in the Lord's work"
00:14:46.45\00:14:47.78
because Brianna wanted
to become a missionary pilot
00:14:47.82\00:14:50.25
so, I was just ecstatic,
00:14:50.29\00:14:53.92
so my husband was
away that weekend,
00:14:53.96\00:14:56.36
Brianna comes home from work,
00:14:56.42\00:14:57.89
and I wanted to tell her
on the phone but I didn't,
00:14:57.93\00:15:00.43
and I said, "Manuel called, and
00:15:00.46\00:15:03.23
he's coming for the
holidays" she was all excited,
00:15:03.30\00:15:05.50
and I said, "Guess
what?" she says, "What?"
00:15:05.53\00:15:07.94
I said, "He's
going to sponsor you"
00:15:07.97\00:15:10.01
she sat there and she
said, "He'd do that for me?"
00:15:10.04\00:15:13.48
I said, "He's
going to do it for you"
00:15:13.51\00:15:15.54
and so she got up from
00:15:15.58\00:15:17.65
the table and she
ran into the room,
00:15:17.68\00:15:19.25
waited a couple of
minutes, she comes back,
00:15:19.28\00:15:21.28
I said, "Where did you go?"
00:15:21.32\00:15:22.65
she said, "I had
to call two friends"
00:15:22.68\00:15:24.29
and she says, "One of them said,
00:15:24.32\00:15:26.52
'why don't those kinds
of things happen to me?'"
00:15:26.55\00:15:28.99
and she said, "You know what?
00:15:29.02\00:15:30.63
If you're doing what
the Lord wants you to do,
00:15:30.66\00:15:33.13
He'll provide" Hmmm...
00:15:33.16\00:15:35.06
So, she couldn't believe it,
00:15:35.10\00:15:38.30
she was like, "Mom, do
you know what this means?"
00:15:38.37\00:15:39.80
and I said,
"Yeah, it's exciting"
00:15:39.83\00:15:42.20
and she was, and I said,
00:15:42.24\00:15:44.31
"You know Brianna, the
Lord has a plan for you,
00:15:44.34\00:15:47.04
He loves you that much,
00:15:47.08\00:15:48.41
that's why He's
providing for you"
00:15:48.44\00:15:50.65
and so, it was just, it
was just that week, she was...
00:15:50.71\00:15:55.22
this was Monday,
she was just on-track
00:15:55.28\00:15:57.82
it was like the Lord said,
00:15:57.85\00:15:59.45
"Now I'm sealing what
I want you to do for me"
00:15:59.49\00:16:02.36
so for her, it was like,
00:16:02.39\00:16:03.76
"Okay, I'm doing what
I'm supposed to be doing"
00:16:03.79\00:16:05.96
Yeah, yeah.
00:16:05.99\00:16:07.30
Friday morning comes,
like any other morning,
00:16:07.36\00:16:09.83
it had that rained
that morning it was cloudy,
00:16:09.90\00:16:12.53
she was getting ready for work,
00:16:12.57\00:16:14.70
Mary made breakfast for her
00:16:14.74\00:16:16.57
and saw her out to the car,
00:16:16.60\00:16:18.37
and that's all... she
regularly would tell her,
00:16:18.41\00:16:23.75
"Brianna, be careful on your
way to work the roads are wet,"
00:16:23.78\00:16:27.72
Brianna looked at her and
said, "Mom, don't you trust me?"
00:16:27.75\00:16:31.69
and Mary looked back
and said, "Oh, I trust you,
00:16:31.72\00:16:35.22
it's those other
drivers out there
00:16:35.29\00:16:37.53
who are
reckless, I'm fearful of"
00:16:37.56\00:16:39.76
and then she said
something that was prophetic,
00:16:39.79\00:16:42.76
she said, "Mom,
you got to let me go"
00:16:42.80\00:16:47.10
we didn't
realize it, we would...
00:16:47.14\00:16:50.27
those were the last
words we'd ever heard from her.
00:16:50.31\00:16:52.61
She was to work to twelve,
but she got off an hour earlier,
00:16:52.64\00:16:58.01
typically when she'd work,
she would send a text to mom,
00:16:58.05\00:17:01.75
she didn't for some
reason that morning.
00:17:01.78\00:17:04.05
So she made it safely
to work? Hmmm... hmmm...
00:17:04.12\00:17:07.12
She worked and
then she got off early,
00:17:07.19\00:17:08.89
then at 1:30,
00:17:08.92\00:17:11.23
Mary was getting
kind of concerned
00:17:11.26\00:17:13.33
because she knew she
was supposed to be off work,
00:17:13.36\00:17:15.36
and she hadn't gotten a call,
00:17:15.40\00:17:17.67
at 1:30 she got a
call from the hospital,
00:17:17.70\00:17:20.57
the one call that parents fear,
and as a result, they said,
00:17:20.64\00:17:29.04
"Ms. Cassidy, is there
somewhere you can talk?"
00:17:29.08\00:17:31.88
she went into the
next room, she said,
00:17:31.91\00:17:33.95
they said... the
Social Worker said,
00:17:34.02\00:17:35.95
"Your daughter was in
a major car accident,"
00:17:35.98\00:17:39.02
of course, Mary
said, "Is she okay?"
00:17:39.05\00:17:41.69
and then those fateful words,
00:17:41.72\00:17:44.33
that should never
be said on the phone,
00:17:44.36\00:17:46.80
"She didn't make it"
00:17:46.90\00:17:48.20
my wife just... it's just like
a ton of bricks falling on her,
00:17:48.23\00:17:54.54
she said, "It's
got to be a mistake,
00:17:54.57\00:17:55.90
you need to call my
husband and talk to him"
00:17:55.94\00:17:57.31
she called me,
she gave me the number
00:17:57.37\00:17:59.37
to call the hospital,
00:17:59.41\00:18:00.81
I spoke to the Social Worker
and then the Highway Patrol
00:18:00.84\00:18:03.91
and told us what
happened, I got off the phone,
00:18:03.98\00:18:06.98
she was coming home to get me,
00:18:07.05\00:18:08.38
and I'm just
shaking, How can this be... "
00:18:08.42\00:18:10.82
You just saw her that
morning, you just saw her.
00:18:10.85\00:18:13.32
Rod: She was here and now
she was gone... Mary: Six hours.
00:18:13.39\00:18:16.56
When she got home,
I had to call somebody
00:18:16.59\00:18:18.36
to have prayer with
and I called Pastor Bill,
00:18:18.39\00:18:20.53
the first thing out
of his mouth he said,
00:18:20.56\00:18:22.66
"The Lord giveth,
the Lord taketh away,
00:18:22.70\00:18:24.83
blessed be the name of the Lord"
00:18:24.87\00:18:26.74
Although that didn't
seem that comforting then,
00:18:26.77\00:18:29.07
he had a great prayer with me,
00:18:29.10\00:18:30.61
he prayed two more
times that weekend,
00:18:30.64\00:18:32.01
we got in the car,
went down to the hospital,
00:18:32.04\00:18:35.31
and the Physician came in and
spent some time talking to us
00:18:35.34\00:18:39.18
the Highway Patrol saying,
00:18:39.21\00:18:41.65
they did everything
they could to save her.
00:18:41.68\00:18:44.12
Then we were taken
into the room where she was,
00:18:44.19\00:18:46.55
and we had called a number
of family members and friends
00:18:46.62\00:18:50.56
and one family, in particular,
came to the hospital,
00:18:50.63\00:18:54.40
and he told me,
00:18:54.46\00:18:55.76
while we were just
crying our hearts out,
00:18:55.80\00:18:58.73
he said, "We lost our
daughter seven months ago,
00:18:58.77\00:19:02.64
to the day, she was
twenty, DUl hit her,"
00:19:02.67\00:19:07.74
and so immediately we
had a bond with this family
00:19:07.78\00:19:11.55
in the church, and
we got home that night,
00:19:11.58\00:19:17.89
almost midnight, we
never walked into the house
00:19:17.95\00:19:20.99
when it was so cold, so dark,
00:19:21.02\00:19:23.19
her two little animals,
00:19:23.22\00:19:24.93
cat and dog, Brianna's met
us... the one on the picture,
00:19:24.96\00:19:27.66
and they knew
something was wrong,
00:19:27.66\00:19:29.90
we went into her
bedroom and just cried,
00:19:29.93\00:19:32.07
what do you do,
00:19:32.10\00:19:33.44
Mary wanted to be as close
to her as she possibly could,
00:19:33.47\00:19:36.44
finally...
through sheer exhaustion
00:19:36.47\00:19:40.08
must have been 1:30 or
2 o'clock I fell asleep,
00:19:40.11\00:19:42.68
it's tiring, it's
exhausting for me,
00:19:42.71\00:19:45.15
I fell asleep, maybe
an hour or two went by
00:19:45.18\00:19:48.15
we woke up with
this overwhelming grief,
00:19:48.18\00:19:51.25
and it just
grabbed me and I thought,
00:19:51.29\00:19:54.29
"I'm going to go insane,
this is only the first night,
00:19:54.32\00:19:56.56
how do you survive this?"
00:19:56.59\00:19:57.93
and the Holy Spirit
immediately gave me seven words,
00:19:57.96\00:20:01.76
John 11:25, "I am the
resurrection and the life,
00:20:01.80\00:20:05.63
I am the resurrection and
life" I just kept repeating it,
00:20:05.67\00:20:08.77
until that
peace came that night.
00:20:08.80\00:20:11.91
For two days, we were
torn, especially Mary,
00:20:11.94\00:20:16.64
nobody was with our daughter,
00:20:16.71\00:20:18.35
finally, Sunday night,
00:20:18.38\00:20:19.71
a lady reaches
out to us on Facebook,
00:20:19.75\00:20:22.95
she had been trying
to reach us for two days,
00:20:22.98\00:20:25.69
and we called her,
00:20:25.72\00:20:27.22
and I'll let Mary
tell you about that.
00:20:27.26\00:20:30.59
She was on with us, Kimberly,
00:20:30.63\00:20:32.19
she was on with us for
about... almost an hour,
00:20:32.23\00:20:35.00
and she said... actually,
that she was with Brianna,
00:20:35.03\00:20:38.93
that she had seen
the entire accident,
00:20:38.97\00:20:44.57
that he actually,
00:20:44.61\00:20:45.94
and prior to
seeing the accident,
00:20:45.97\00:20:49.01
she grew up in that
area, she had been to Costco
00:20:49.04\00:20:52.71
and had been
through three lines,
00:20:52.75\00:20:54.65
she said, "That
never happened to me"
00:20:54.68\00:20:56.18
Rod: Three lanes
Mary: she'd go to one,
00:20:56.22\00:20:57.59
okay, you have to
go to the next one,
00:20:57.62\00:20:58.95
she's like, "What's going on?"
00:20:58.99\00:21:00.79
but we know now, the
Lord was delaying her
00:21:00.86\00:21:04.43
to be at the
scene of the accident
00:21:04.46\00:21:07.13
the minute it happened
00:21:07.20\00:21:08.50
and she saw how
it all took place,
00:21:08.53\00:21:09.86
this guy was, for four
minutes, driving recklessly,
00:21:09.90\00:21:12.73
he almost hit them, he
almost hit another vehicle,
00:21:12.77\00:21:15.77
then he veered off
the road, eastbound lanes,
00:21:15.80\00:21:18.67
two lanes this way
and two lanes westbound,
00:21:18.71\00:21:21.28
he flew off the highway,
lost control of the vehicle
00:21:21.31\00:21:24.01
and there was a five
foot berm, he flew over that,
00:21:24.05\00:21:26.61
and Brianna was
coming around the corner,
00:21:26.68\00:21:29.08
and she didn't have a
chance, she didn't see him,
00:21:29.12\00:21:31.69
and he flew right into her car,
00:21:31.72\00:21:33.05
both vehicles...
00:21:33.09\00:21:34.42
the force of the
impact put them perpendicular
00:21:34.46\00:21:36.69
on the side of the
road, they saw it all
00:21:36.73\00:21:39.43
Kimberly and her
husband, and they rushed out,
00:21:39.46\00:21:41.46
quickly went
over to where she was
00:21:41.53\00:21:43.70
they couldn't get
in on the driver's side
00:21:43.73\00:21:46.07
so they went to
the passenger side,
00:21:46.10\00:21:47.50
he had to kick out the
window, it was cracked,
00:21:47.57\00:21:49.87
and she went, and she
couldn't open the door
00:21:49.94\00:21:52.74
so she went in and
while she was in the car,
00:21:52.77\00:21:55.54
leaning over through the door,
00:21:55.58\00:21:57.28
she was a Christian, and
had just come back to church
00:21:57.31\00:22:01.48
she was a mother of
five, and a Trauma Nurse,
00:22:01.52\00:22:04.69
now what's the
chance of that happening?
00:22:04.72\00:22:07.36
Come on now...
00:22:07.39\00:22:08.72
While she's in the
car, she hears a voice,
00:22:08.76\00:22:11.56
she's taking her vitals,
00:22:11.59\00:22:13.43
which was
dropping minute by minute
00:22:13.50\00:22:14.96
she hears a voice, she
hears a lot of commotion
00:22:15.00\00:22:16.93
people were
stopping along the side,
00:22:16.97\00:22:18.57
to pray and come over
00:22:18.60\00:22:20.20
she thought somebody
had gotten on the back seat,
00:22:20.24\00:22:21.67
she hears a voice, it said,
00:22:21.70\00:22:23.04
"Kimberly, calm down,
call my daughter by her name"
00:22:23.07\00:22:27.24
she realized it was the
voice of the Holy Spirit,
00:22:27.28\00:22:31.15
and there was an
envelope of peace in the car,
00:22:31.18\00:22:35.08
the rest of the
time she was in there,
00:22:35.12\00:22:37.35
she finds a wallet, she
didn't know what to call her
00:22:37.39\00:22:40.02
because she... Brianna
would go by "Brianna" but
00:22:40.12\00:22:44.66
many people call her "Brianna"
so she just called her "Brie"
00:22:44.69\00:22:47.03
which was her
nickname, and she sang to her,
00:22:47.10\00:22:50.13
but then the time
came, shortly thereafter,
00:22:50.20\00:22:53.27
she knew the signs
of the end of life,
00:22:53.30\00:22:55.74
Brianna took a
breath and it was over,
00:22:55.77\00:22:58.21
so she believed,
she didn't make it out.
00:22:58.24\00:23:00.78
And she did confirmed with
us that Brianna didn't suffer
00:23:00.81\00:23:03.85
because apparently
when the car hit her,
00:23:03.88\00:23:06.31
it knocked her unconscious,
so Brianna didn't suffer,
00:23:06.35\00:23:09.95
thank God for that. Praise God.
00:23:10.02\00:23:11.95
Yes, yes...
00:23:11.99\00:23:13.69
The next day her brother came up
00:23:13.76\00:23:15.39
from the ministry he
had just been involved in,
00:23:15.42\00:23:17.13
to minister to us,
and he said two things
00:23:17.16\00:23:21.40
that I'll never forget, he said,
00:23:21.46\00:23:24.80
"Satan's kingdom
needs to be damaged
00:23:24.83\00:23:27.30
for what he has
done to your daughter
00:23:27.34\00:23:29.67
you need to put this on video,
00:23:29.74\00:23:34.41
the Memorial Service
and put it on YouTube
00:23:34.48\00:23:37.91
for the world to
see," Hmmm... hmmm...
00:23:37.95\00:23:40.18
and he also said this,
00:23:40.22\00:23:41.75
he said, "There are
two lights in the world,
00:23:41.78\00:23:46.29
some... they burn slow and long,
00:23:46.32\00:23:48.76
and others... they
burn fast and bright,
00:23:48.79\00:23:50.39
your daughter was one
of those... the latter"
00:23:50.43\00:23:54.50
Hmmm... and from that time on
00:23:54.56\00:23:57.40
we started thinking
about maybe doing a website
00:23:57.43\00:23:59.60
to tell our story to the
world, and we have done that
00:23:59.63\00:24:03.20
we also have a
30-second video clip
00:24:03.24\00:24:06.68
that we did, maybe
we can show that now,
00:24:06.71\00:24:09.31
Yeah, let's show it and then
we'll put the website up as well
00:24:09.34\00:24:11.68
let's show that clip right now.
00:24:11.71\00:24:13.15
Hi, my name is Brianna,
every time I fly an airplane,
00:24:13.18\00:24:17.99
I experience freedom,
00:24:18.02\00:24:19.35
the stress of
the week, melts away
00:24:19.39\00:24:21.79
because I'm in a heavenly
burden-free environment,
00:24:21.82\00:24:25.19
I want to be able to
share a better type of freedom
00:24:25.23\00:24:28.50
with people from
different walks of life,
00:24:28.53\00:24:30.27
freedom and peace
00:24:30.33\00:24:31.93
that comes from leaving
the shackles of sin behind
00:24:31.97\00:24:34.50
that feeling that
can only be achieved
00:24:34.54\00:24:37.27
by being forgiven and
set free in Jesus Christ.
00:24:37.31\00:24:41.04
Thank you so much
00:24:41.08\00:24:42.48
for taking the
time to consider me.
00:24:42.51\00:24:44.15
She did this video
clip two weeks before her...
00:24:44.21\00:24:49.05
that tragic day
00:24:49.08\00:24:50.45
she was doing it for
Quiet Hour Ministries
00:24:50.49\00:24:54.02
as a sponsorship
for another Mission Trip
00:24:54.06\00:24:57.73
and later we ran
across the gentleman at ASI
00:24:57.76\00:25:01.46
and he... one of his assistants
00:25:01.50\00:25:04.27
put us in touch with
him and he said, "Oh... "
00:25:04.30\00:25:06.27
he's also a pilot and he
said, "She would have won that,
00:25:06.30\00:25:09.07
Mission Trip
sponsorship. " Wow...
00:25:09.10\00:25:12.44
There are so many
comments that I can make
00:25:12.51\00:25:16.11
but one of them is
that, what you've gone through
00:25:16.18\00:25:19.55
is what every...
00:25:19.58\00:25:20.92
every parent that's
watching this right now
00:25:20.95\00:25:23.69
can identify to an
extent with the idea of loss,
00:25:23.72\00:25:31.26
of losing your
child, it is unthinkable,
00:25:31.29\00:25:34.00
and to know, though,
that there is a resurrection
00:25:34.10\00:25:40.20
and that Jesus Christ said,
00:25:40.24\00:25:42.34
"I am the
resurrection and the life"
00:25:42.37\00:25:44.64
we don't have to worry
about this being, "good-bye"
00:25:44.67\00:25:48.08
this is just a
temporary... temporary absence,
00:25:48.11\00:25:52.95
we're going to put
her website up as well
00:25:52.98\00:25:55.52
so that people can go to
the website: briannacassidy. com
00:25:55.55\00:25:57.82
see the story, what...
00:25:57.85\00:26:00.42
what did you do... to deal...
00:26:00.49\00:26:05.59
and we only have like
a couple of minutes left,
00:26:05.63\00:26:07.50
what did you do to
deal with the suffering
00:26:07.56\00:26:10.57
that you went through
over this period of time?
00:26:10.60\00:26:13.57
For us it's been a...
00:26:13.64\00:26:15.70
just reaching out to
other people in our grief
00:26:15.74\00:26:19.37
that's been a big
blessing for us...
00:26:19.41\00:26:22.14
to be honest... to keep busy,
00:26:22.18\00:26:23.55
because Brianna
was our only child
00:26:23.58\00:26:25.21
so, setting up our Foundation
that we've set up for her
00:26:25.25\00:26:29.48
and that was a miracle
because we got our 501c3 Rating
00:26:29.52\00:26:33.66
in a week and a half, and
we were like... "Miracle!"
00:26:33.76\00:26:37.76
That's unheard of, isn't it?
00:26:37.79\00:26:39.16
Yeah, and that's what
we've been told by many, yup.
00:26:39.19\00:26:41.80
We have put our energies
00:26:41.83\00:26:43.53
toward the
website and the Foundation
00:26:43.57\00:26:45.53
because it's been...
for us... therapeutic,
00:26:45.57\00:26:48.97
and as a result, we
have found some healing,
00:26:49.00\00:26:52.41
we are presently sponsoring
two pilots in South America,
00:26:52.44\00:26:57.78
we also have
three Media Ministries
00:26:57.81\00:27:00.25
in all of these,
Brianna was, in some way,
00:27:00.28\00:27:03.42
either involved in or
she had some influence with
00:27:03.52\00:27:07.09
we're helping in
sponsoring UnScene Media...
00:27:07.12\00:27:10.26
Yvonne: Oh yes,
Ryan St. Hillaire.
00:27:10.29\00:27:12.79
Little Lights
Studios out in California,
00:27:12.83\00:27:15.86
and just recently,
we're helping a Program
00:27:15.93\00:27:18.70
that will be aired on
Brenda Walsh's Kids' Network
00:27:18.73\00:27:21.44
called "Kids in Mission"
that should be filmed next year
00:27:21.47\00:27:25.01
and so through
this we are promoting
00:27:25.04\00:27:28.71
what our daughter wanted to do,
00:27:28.74\00:27:30.75
helping get the gospel out there
00:27:30.85\00:27:32.78
while we still have time
00:27:32.81\00:27:34.15
and we know God has a plan
to reach more souls through it.
00:27:34.22\00:27:38.89
Yes, he does and God has
allowed you to take this tragedy
00:27:38.92\00:27:43.83
and turn it into
triumph. Absolutely.
00:27:43.86\00:27:47.40
And Brianna's
memory will be memorialized
00:27:47.40\00:27:50.67
through your efforts so
we praise the Lord for that.
00:27:50.73\00:27:54.00
Thank you so much
for being with us.
00:27:54.04\00:27:55.70
Thank you. Thank you so much
00:27:55.74\00:27:57.31
and thank you for joining us,
00:27:57.37\00:27:58.81
we've reached the
end of another Program,
00:27:58.87\00:28:01.31
can't believe the
time flew by so quickly,
00:28:01.34\00:28:03.58
join us next time
because you know what?
00:28:03.61\00:28:05.81
It just wouldn't be
the same, without you.
00:28:05.85\00:28:08.08