We don’t get to choose who we love. And we don’t get to choose who we lose. But for a time in our lives, we may be blessed by the love and friendship of another.

Jessica Olive Cash was a miracle—as we all are—and a gift of God. A shooting star that streaked across our lives: brief, brilliant, unforgettable. She was lifted into the sky on Wednesday, September 17, to join the God she believed in—welcomed with open arms, rejoiced by angels, and embraced by old friends who had gone before her. We may suffer without her, but God never promised we could have her forever.

Jessica believed that suffering breeds compassion, and that it allows us to love more deeply. She carried a baton in her life, and now she has handed it off to us—to carry on the run.

In her honor, we are raising funds for the causes she championed. Donations will be distributed to support transgender rights through the Transgender Law Center..

Let us reflect, remember, and carry her light forward. And let us love one another as she loved us.