Cady spent a lot of time with her family, including dad, Rob, left, and youngest sister, Abby.
Cady Reynolds flashes her bright smile in this 2005 photo. She died in a car accident May 31 at the age of 16.
Teenager inspired many in her short life Cady Reynolds' family says the 16-year-old had a giving heart By LISA MAXSON Catholic Voice
Cady Reynolds' picture says it all: Sparkling eyes and a bright smile to mirror her personality.
Cady's family and friends, who remember her as a beautiful and carefree young woman, now mourn the loss of a teenager who once had a future as bright as her smile.
The 16-year-old sophomore at Marian High School in Omaha died May 31 after her compact car was hit by a Sport Utility Vehicle.
"I think we all deal with Cady's death differently," said Rob Reynolds, her father. "You go day by day."
"It's every bit as difficult as people can imagine losing a child would be," added Cady's mother, Shari.
Rob and Shari describe their daughter as being good, easily disciplined and a hard worker. They said friendships, academics and family were all important to her as was serving the community.
Cady worked as a volunteer at the University of Nebraska Medical Center where she answered phones in the surgical waiting room. She also babysat and helped elderly neighbors garden.
Cady's desire to help people was obvious, especially at Christmas, the Reynolds said. For the last three years Cady adopted a Christmas family and used her own money to buy the entire family gifts.
"She spent a couple hundred dollars a year and would buy everything and wrap it all," Shari said. "This last year she spent $400 on her family. She bought a brand new bike for a little girl. I think she got more joy out of doing that than opening the gifts she had of her own."
Cady's parents said she was considering a career in medicine, and spoke about being a doctor for underprivileged communities.
"She just really had a huge desire to help people and we have every confidence in the world that that would've driven her adult life, too," Shari said.
Faith and support
The Reynolds family, members of Mary Our Queen Parish in Omaha, said they have relied on their faith and the support from friends to help them get through this tragic time.
Friends from the parish, Marian High School and Rob and Shari's grade schools (St. Pius X and St. Bernard) have reached out to them with food, cards and prayers.
"I know I could call probably 500 people and ask them to come and help and they would," Shari said. "They've done anything and everything they can possibly think of and we can't express how that's lifted us up."
"Just the thought of knowing there's a community around us that's grieving with us and that they understand the importance of what we lost and they respect that. That means more than they realize," Rob added.
Rob and Shari were able to be with their daughter during the last hours of her life. Standing next to her hospital bed at the Creighton University Medical Center, they kissed Cady and told her how much they loved her.
They consider those six hours a blessing from God.
"We were there. We expressed to our daughter and to her soul what we felt about her and that was a huge, huge blessing for us," Shari said. "I'm sure that she knows what we said that night. For us it was really important to be able to say goodbye."
An hour before Cady died, her parents said they noticed a blood stain in the shape of a heart above Cady's left shoulder. That heart, they believe, was a sign from their daughter.
"Cady would sign her name with a little heart. The heart she would sign looked just like that one - with one side smaller than the other," Shari said. "We truly believe that she left that for us and really was saying back to us that she loved us, too."
The family keeps the piece of fabric in their home, along with a poem Cady's uncle, Chris Reynolds, wrote to go with the heart.
At peace in heaven
"We firmly believe our peace and our ability to sleep at night and raise our other four children come from the fact that Cady is an individual who made it to heaven. Her soul was pure and giving and uncorrupted," Shari said. "We believe, as parents, our job with Cady was done and we believe she is very much in heaven."
Cady's younger siblings, Emily, 14, Sarah, 12, Abby, 6, and Carson, 3, said she always made time for them, listened to their stories and played with them.
"She was the best older sister you could ever have. We were extremely close and she was by far my best friend and she still is and she will continue to be," said Emily, who will be a freshman at Marian this fall. "She was always there whenever I needed advice. She was the perfect big sister."
Sarah said she was inspired by her sister's ability to continue trying something, even if it was difficult.
She also said she misses her sister's smile.
Littlest sister, Abby, said she liked to exercise and play outside with Cady.
"I just followed her everywhere. I wanted to be like my sister Cady and I still want to be like her," she said.
Cady's father said he hopes others will look to Cady as an example of someone who tried very hard to do the right thing.
"Cady's memory is never going to be gone from us as a family and the best thing we can do or that our kids can do to pay tribute to Cady is to live our lives the best we can."
