By CARLA CROWDER
Scripps Howard News Service
April 27, 1999
LITTLETON, Colo. - One photograph showed
Cassie Bernall as a tiny blond girl plopped
into a Radio Flyer wagon. Others had her on
a rocking horse, wobbly on ice skates,
smiling through braces.
There she was, wearing an angel costume,
all filmy white wings and silver halo,
maybe 7 or 8. And there was Cassie catching
a fish, her free arm flexed in an
exaggerated muscle.
People around the world know Cassie as the
Columbine student who died confessing her faith.
Her killer asked her if she believed in God. She
told him she did, then died at 17.
As Cassie's family reminded everyone at her
funeral Monday, before she was a martyr, she
was a kid.
Sweet, joyous photos of her doing normal kid
stuff lined the front of West Bowles Community
Church.
Her funeral was a celebration for a happy girl,
not a dreary goodbye like funerals so often are.
"This is a graduation ceremony for Cassie,"
said the Rev. George Kirsten, pastor of the
church. "Cassie went to a martyr's death, and
we're going to celebrate that because she's in
the martyr's hall of fame."
Youth minister Dave McPherson called the service
a wedding. Christ is the groom and "on the 20th
he returned for Cassie."
"So why do we cry? Because we weren't invited to
the wedding. It took place in heaven," McPherson
said.
Nineteen years ago, Kirsten performed the wedding
ceremony for Cassie's parents, Brad and Misty
Bernall.
Monday, he spoke to nearly 2,500 people gathered
to remember their firstborn child and only daughter.
They lined the walls, crouched on the carpet and
poured into the parking lot of the south Jefferson
County church.
It was worth it. Along with the ministers who spoke,
the crowd got a message from a special guest,
Cassie herself. Two days before she died, Cassie
had a part in a church video where teens spoke of
their faith.
"I just try to not contradict myself, to get rid of
all the hypocrisy and just live for Christ," she
said, her radiant face smiling larger-than-life on
a huge video screen.
She had no way of knowing she'd soon be known
worldwide as the Colorado girl who died for Christ.
"What the church has talked about for 2,000 years,
what every church in this world has talked about on
a daily basis, Cassie, you did it," McPherson said.
And still more pictures, broadcast on the giant
screen. Cassie hoola-hooping. Cassie climbing rocks.
Cassie wearing a tiny gold cross around her neck.
Like some of the 11 other students killed in the
Columbine tragedy, Cassie was placed in a white
casket her friends and family could sign.
Her mother, Misty Bernall, was one of the first:
"Bunny Rabbit, my friend, my buddy, my daughter,
my mentor. I will love you and miss you forever.
I promise to take good care of your kitty. I know
that Jesus is elated to have you in His presence."
On the far side of the huge spray of white roses
was this note: "Cassie, I love you. You are the
best baby-sitter, Love Katelyn."
Church member Kim Elder spent part of the service
trying to help her freckle-faced 5-year-old boy
understand what was going on. "See that pretty
white box with the writing, that's a casket,"
Elder told Michael. "Are they gonna have that
for everyone that got shot?" Michael asked.
"Well, a bunch of the churches in our neighborhood
are having services for the kids," Elder told her
boy.
McPherson left the crowd with this: "The ball is in
your court now. What impact will her martyred life
have on you?
"In one of the last photos taken, Cassie's putting
on lipstick. A graceful, elegant young woman, she
has her hair pulled back in curls. Her mother is
peeking into the camera, smiling and zipping up
her daughter's gown. They look just alike.
Misty Bernall's message on the casket ends: "Your
courage and commitment to Christ have gained you
a special place in heaven, and I am proud to call
you my daughter. I love you so much, Mom."
(Carla Crowder is a reporter for the Denver Rocky
Mountain News in Colorado.)
