Help Charis go to Rachael's funeral
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Short version:
Charis Hill Rachael Harvey's were best, best friends. From the moment they met at Meredith College, they were stuck together like glue.
As most of you all know, Rachael passed away due to complications from her pregnancy. Her funeral is this Saturday, March 7th.
Charis lives in Sacramento, CA and due to traveling back and forth for her grandfathers funeral a few weeks ago and visiting Rachael, money is running extremely low. This fund is to help pay for her flights to and from Raleigh. Any extra money will be given to Steven to help with baby Ruth.
Let's help get Charis here so she can see her best friend one last time. There is only one funeral, only one chance for her to be here.
I'll update this soon with a longer description/story, but please let's all help Charis come back to Raleigh and say goodbye to her best friend, Rachael Harvey.
Thanks,
Maria
EXTENDED version:
I tried to write about the friendship between Charis and Rachael, but decided it was best you all read it straight from Charis. This is what she sent me:
"Here is our story:
I met Rachael 10 years ago during our first year at Meredith College shortly after we moved into dorm rooms just down the hall from each other. I heard she had a camera and enjoyed photography so I put on a crazy costume and poked my head into her room one day and asked, “Hey, do you want to have a photo shoot?”We discovered we grew up just 40 minutes away from each other and that I already knew some of her cousins. And so we became friends. It was meant to be.
Our friendship was full of pictures, laughter, outings, and shenanigans. College played host to a majority of our memories together. Late one night during our first year we painted a big blue bare foot in the kitchen on our hall (we lived in Barefoot Dorm); another night we died my hair in the kitchen. We had water gun fights (inside and outside), we dressed up as pirates, we filled a campus water fountain with rubber ducks (along with several other friends). We went to a father-daughter dance in college as each other’s father, since neither of us had one, which prompted a photo shoot during which we dressed up and laughed into the wee hours of the morning. When I stayed up all night to finish an essay for studying abroad, she fell asleep in my bed next to me while I worked on my laptop. We celebrated our birthday together each year (we were born 9 days apart), often with our mothers (who also attended Meredith College). We stayed with each other at our childhood homes on weekends and during breaks from classes, and we went on vacations and road trips together to Ocracoke and camped across the state of North Carolina over spring break one year. We canoed and kayaked, we arranged flowers, we explored the outdoors. We were Duke fans. We loved art. We loved to cook. We loved animals. We loved orange juice.
Rachael and I became such good friends that we had a fake wedding and became each other’s “wyf” on facebook. I wore a wedding dress from a thrift store and she wore a suit and tie – also from a thrift store. Our friends took pictures of us frolicking in our costumes while we pretended to exchange vows and pose for portraits outside the Meredith College Chapel. From then on, though we both dated and fell in love with other people, we were still “wyves.” These were the kinds of experiences that made our friendship deep and permanent, for better or for worse, ‘til death do we part.
In the end, Rachael and I became sisters more than friends.
How do I say it all? How do I find the words to show how much I love and miss Rach? We became suitemates our final year in college, then we lived together for a year after I graduated (she remained in school). Our friendship was the kind that you wish for; we had secrets, joys, disagreements, inside jokes, painful experiences, connection… we had love. When Rachael met Steven she almost immediately knew he was the one for her, and I knew too even though I didn’t know him yet just by the way she talked about him. They were perfect together. The last time I saw Rachael before she was hospitalized was in May 2014, by chance, at The Borough in Raleigh, NC. I knew then without a doubt that she was perfect with Steven; I knew she had found happiness. When Rachael sent me news in July that she was pregnant I was one of the first to know of her “latest project.” I promised her I would see her in December, before she had the baby. How wrong I was.
On October 23, 2014, I woke to a text from Rachael’s phone number – it was her husband: “This is Steven. Rachael is in a coma in the hospital. Please pray for her, I’m so terrified I might lose her.” Her daughter Ruth was born via emergency c-section on that day, three months before her due date, and survived against all odds. Rachael had experienced eclampsia, a now-rare pregnancy complication, that caused seizures and a stroke that left her in a coma and then in a severely disabled state and not really awake; we don’t know if she was aware at all due to extensive brain damage. Ruth went home after being in NICU for a little over three months and she continues to thrive – she is truly a miracle and a gift. Rachael made small, painfully slow improvements to the point that she was able to sustain eye contact again and very recently regain some minimal control of her right side. Hope was strong with everyone following her progress.
On February 27, 2015, I woke to two texts, one from Steven and one from Rachael’s mother, Reita. Rachael had passed away that morning.
These are the memories I have to hold close and remember so her daughter will know one day who her mother was, and how she fought to the very last moment. I can’t believe I’ve lost one of my very best friends, someone with whom I shared so many of my happiest days and years. I love you Rachael, my wyf."
Charis Hill Rachael Harvey's were best, best friends. From the moment they met at Meredith College, they were stuck together like glue.
As most of you all know, Rachael passed away due to complications from her pregnancy. Her funeral is this Saturday, March 7th.
Charis lives in Sacramento, CA and due to traveling back and forth for her grandfathers funeral a few weeks ago and visiting Rachael, money is running extremely low. This fund is to help pay for her flights to and from Raleigh. Any extra money will be given to Steven to help with baby Ruth.
Let's help get Charis here so she can see her best friend one last time. There is only one funeral, only one chance for her to be here.
I'll update this soon with a longer description/story, but please let's all help Charis come back to Raleigh and say goodbye to her best friend, Rachael Harvey.
Thanks,
Maria
EXTENDED version:
I tried to write about the friendship between Charis and Rachael, but decided it was best you all read it straight from Charis. This is what she sent me:
"Here is our story:
I met Rachael 10 years ago during our first year at Meredith College shortly after we moved into dorm rooms just down the hall from each other. I heard she had a camera and enjoyed photography so I put on a crazy costume and poked my head into her room one day and asked, “Hey, do you want to have a photo shoot?”We discovered we grew up just 40 minutes away from each other and that I already knew some of her cousins. And so we became friends. It was meant to be.
Our friendship was full of pictures, laughter, outings, and shenanigans. College played host to a majority of our memories together. Late one night during our first year we painted a big blue bare foot in the kitchen on our hall (we lived in Barefoot Dorm); another night we died my hair in the kitchen. We had water gun fights (inside and outside), we dressed up as pirates, we filled a campus water fountain with rubber ducks (along with several other friends). We went to a father-daughter dance in college as each other’s father, since neither of us had one, which prompted a photo shoot during which we dressed up and laughed into the wee hours of the morning. When I stayed up all night to finish an essay for studying abroad, she fell asleep in my bed next to me while I worked on my laptop. We celebrated our birthday together each year (we were born 9 days apart), often with our mothers (who also attended Meredith College). We stayed with each other at our childhood homes on weekends and during breaks from classes, and we went on vacations and road trips together to Ocracoke and camped across the state of North Carolina over spring break one year. We canoed and kayaked, we arranged flowers, we explored the outdoors. We were Duke fans. We loved art. We loved to cook. We loved animals. We loved orange juice.
Rachael and I became such good friends that we had a fake wedding and became each other’s “wyf” on facebook. I wore a wedding dress from a thrift store and she wore a suit and tie – also from a thrift store. Our friends took pictures of us frolicking in our costumes while we pretended to exchange vows and pose for portraits outside the Meredith College Chapel. From then on, though we both dated and fell in love with other people, we were still “wyves.” These were the kinds of experiences that made our friendship deep and permanent, for better or for worse, ‘til death do we part.
In the end, Rachael and I became sisters more than friends.
How do I say it all? How do I find the words to show how much I love and miss Rach? We became suitemates our final year in college, then we lived together for a year after I graduated (she remained in school). Our friendship was the kind that you wish for; we had secrets, joys, disagreements, inside jokes, painful experiences, connection… we had love. When Rachael met Steven she almost immediately knew he was the one for her, and I knew too even though I didn’t know him yet just by the way she talked about him. They were perfect together. The last time I saw Rachael before she was hospitalized was in May 2014, by chance, at The Borough in Raleigh, NC. I knew then without a doubt that she was perfect with Steven; I knew she had found happiness. When Rachael sent me news in July that she was pregnant I was one of the first to know of her “latest project.” I promised her I would see her in December, before she had the baby. How wrong I was.
On October 23, 2014, I woke to a text from Rachael’s phone number – it was her husband: “This is Steven. Rachael is in a coma in the hospital. Please pray for her, I’m so terrified I might lose her.” Her daughter Ruth was born via emergency c-section on that day, three months before her due date, and survived against all odds. Rachael had experienced eclampsia, a now-rare pregnancy complication, that caused seizures and a stroke that left her in a coma and then in a severely disabled state and not really awake; we don’t know if she was aware at all due to extensive brain damage. Ruth went home after being in NICU for a little over three months and she continues to thrive – she is truly a miracle and a gift. Rachael made small, painfully slow improvements to the point that she was able to sustain eye contact again and very recently regain some minimal control of her right side. Hope was strong with everyone following her progress.
On February 27, 2015, I woke to two texts, one from Steven and one from Rachael’s mother, Reita. Rachael had passed away that morning.
These are the memories I have to hold close and remember so her daughter will know one day who her mother was, and how she fought to the very last moment. I can’t believe I’ve lost one of my very best friends, someone with whom I shared so many of my happiest days and years. I love you Rachael, my wyf."
Organizer
Maria Santore
Organizer
Morrisville, NC