Support Cassie and Josh's Journey with Hallie

An update from my sister. The Mamaw to little Hallie.

I want to say a BIG thank you to everyone who has said a prayer, or followed our situation with Hallie. Everyone who has sent private messages offering support and help in any way. There has been an outpouring of love and support from SO many people. I just don’t think I have shown enough gratitude for it all.

Tomorrow, Hallie will be 1 month old. This past month has been a whirlwind of emotions, worry, fear, acceptance, change, more acceptance, more change, more worry….it has felt like being in survival mode for a month straight. So with all that, I sometimes think I don’t show enough gratitude for the wonderful acts of kindness that people have shown to us. Sometimes, someone will send a very kind message or even money, during a time when we are emotionally exhausted or maybe something very worrisome is happening. And I just feel like at those moments, I may not respond with the depth of gratitude that we all feel.

In the coming days, Hallie will have her tracheostomy and G tube surgery and then we will start our education for her at home care. Within the next couple months, we will hopefully be bringing her home and starting a whole new journey and life with her. I’m excited to watch her grow and to see her and Lucy become sweet little sisters playing and giggling together.

Cassie and Josh are amazing parents to these two precious girls. This has been a very overwhelming and emotional and stressful time….for me…and I can’t begin to imagine how it feels for them as Hallie and Lucy’s parents.

We have stayed at the Ronald McDonald House in Cincinnati for the past month, with me and Lucy coming home every other week to give her some normalcy. And Cassie coming for a night or 2 to give her even more normalcy. And Josh has not been home since July 1st when he came to my house to celebrate Nate’s birthday…not knowing he wouldn’t be going home again for over a month.

We know we aren’t the first family to go through something like this…and so many other families experience much more difficult problems than we are facing with Hallie. But like the volunteer at Ronald McDonald told me when I expressed that to her…”This is ours.”

Again, thank you all for everything. Every little thought or prayer. Any and every act of kindness no matter how “small” it may seem to you…it is GREAT to us. It brings me to tears just to think about how wonderful you all are and how much everyone cares about these people who mean soo soo much to me.

A lot of people have been asking for a GoFundMe link to help my niece Cassie & her husband Josh, so we decided to go ahead and make one. Please don’t feel obligated in any way.

Due to severe pre-eclampsia, my niece Cassie gave birth to her daughter Hallie on July 2, 2025. Hallie was born with Goldenhar Syndrome, also known as OAVS (Oculo-Auriculo-Vertebral Syndrome).

Thankfully, Hallie is not severely affected by OAVS, but does have breathing problems caused by the lack of bone structure in her lower jaw on her left side, and will have a tracheostomy for several years at least.

Hallie has been at Children’s Hospital in Cincinnati since the night she was born, with her family staying at the Ronald McDonald House next door.

The doctors expect that Hallie will be in Children’s for at least another month. Any money raised through this GoFundMe will go toward gas money and living expenses during this time.