Kassandra Nicole Thompson - this was her birth name.  I named her after a girl I knew named Cass Bauer (Heath Bauer's sister).  Cass Bauer had beautiful red hair and a flair for life - she was so fun and vibrant to be around.  I loved her name.  Cass Bauer was named after Mama Cass Elliot from the Mamas and the Papas.  I always told Kassie that she was named after Cass Bauer and Mama Cass but never found a picture of her until now...to the right - that is Mama Cass Elliot.  She has a beautiful smile like Kassandra does!  I do not have a picture of Cass Bauer but she also had a beautiful smile that I remember!  

When Kassandra was born she was so quiet, just looking at everything with her big gigantic blue eyes...so perfect and beautiful.  I wanted her name to be a little different so I changed it to start with a "K".  Her middle name Nicole was just a pretty name I liked and it sounded good...it was a name fit for a princess - my little red haired princess.  At her birth, my Aunt Bonita was there as my coach - I remember her being so calm and reassuring - I will always remember that about Kassie's birth.  Kassandra was the only child I had naturally...my other 4 were born by C-section.  That made her pretty special to me - I figured that she was just so ready to come into this world that nothing was going to get in the way or slow her down.

Kassie was vibrant, full of life, energetic, sweet, loving, and so much more.  She was noted for being very clean and organized.  She always looked her best and had a GREAT BIG SMILE on her face!  She was always tending to other people's needs - to make sure they were happy.  She cared about many people - those she knew and those she didn't.  She had a love for animals and wanted them all...especially those that were left or abused and YES, she did bring them home with her!  She had a big place in her heart for children that were abused - she hated abuse, she hated people hurting whether it be physical pain or a hurting heart.  God's spirit lived in her fully - she demonstrated His love and compassion towards so many people!

The most important things to her as a teenager - nearing adulthood were her friends.  She had so many!  If you knew her as a friend I think you are a pretty awesome person.  Her friends seem to carry that wild, care free passion for life so when I see her friends, I always see Kassandra and I love that!  Kassandra seemed to reach out to everyone and at the least, she offered them a smile - that gorgeous smile!  Her friends tell me lots of funny stories about posting sticky notes all over another friends car, forking yards, and painting peace signs with a heart inside on the windows of each other's cars.  This was all done in "sneak attack" mode...she loved surprising people and doing silly things to make them smile.

She was very goal oriented.  During her high school years we would sit down and talk about what she wanted to do a lot.  She needed to plan things, to prepare for them.  Her favorite class was foreign language - I think she enjoyed it because it was such a challenge.  When she was in 11th grade she stressed how much she disliked all the drama at school.  She wanted more - she wanted college.  I was fine with that - she was an excellent student.  We sat and planned her taking her GED and then enrolling at MSU-B.  She wanted to go into business and then interior design.  She was awesome at both.  She got a lot of junk from people for going after her GED.  A couple nameless people left her nasty messages on her phone and it really hurt her feelings.  AND, it gave her more determination to get her GED.  I remember going to get the mail and we both just sat there while she opened the certificate...she was SO, SO, SO happy and just proud to have that certificate!  I don't care what anyone says...I was just as proud of her as I was when Mikaela graduated.  They are accomplishments, STEPS taken to prepare them for the next step.  Kassie was accepted to MSU-B - I received her acceptance letter the Monday after she passed away.  If you check out her scholarship one of the criteria for it is that the person must have acquired their GED.  Kassie would want to help other students trying to reach their goals - just like her.

As her mom, I used to be mad at her a lot because she never seemed to follow the rules at home.  She wanted to live her life the way she wanted to PERIOD.  I tried grounding her, taking away her privileges - all sorts of things but she was as stubborn as I probably was at that age.  We really butted heads.  Now that she is gone, that sort of hurts my heart but one thing I know for sure is that even in an argument I told her I loved her.  She would yell at me, "I know you love me but I am just so mad" - and she had a lisp so when she would say it - it would make me almost giggle because it was so cute.

Kassandra spent a lot of time on her computer & phone.  On the computer she was mostly on her myspace - www.MySpace.com/kasserella and on her phone - well, she was the texting QUEEN!!!  She seemed to text faster than I could talk!  She did not even have to look at her phone to text! 

I miss my daughter.  I think the best way to learn about her is to hear others tell stories so I ask that if you have any stories to tell - funny, sad, plain, whatever that you post them in her gallery of photos.  If you have any pictures I would love to add them so just drop me a line Michelle@KassandrasSmiles.com and I will get them added.  Thanks so much for visiting!