Re: I'm sure it will be monumental
I am certain that, apart from any public memorial service and celebration, there will be multiple forms of more permanent memorials.
For starters, I will be shocked if Mt. St. Joe's gym is not named after her before next season (near as I can tell, it currently has no name other than being part of the Harrington Student Center). This Sunday they are having the "Run for 22" event at their outdoor track to raise money for Lauren's foundation. I imagine this previously planned event will now have a rather different atmosphere in light of her passing. In addition to all of the money and awareness she raised for DIPG, I think she also has benefitted her university as well; not only by her amazing example of courage and perseverance, but also drawing attention to a really great school located on the west side of Cincinnati (in a largely residential area).
And Devon Still, more importantly his daughter Leah Still, are also incredible inspirations as well. As Devon said this morning about Lauren, she did not lose her battle with cancer: "Because of her fight and selfless act of using her fight to raise an incredible amount of money and awareness, doctors will one day find a cure for DIPG!" (
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/04/10/lauren-hill-devon-still-tribute_n_7040598.html)
I am incredibly luck to live in a place like Cincinnati. It's small enough for people like Lauren Hill and Leah Still to capture the hearts of an entire town, with everyone feeling a strong emotional attachment to each of them. Yet big enough to provide a platform for them to convey their message and example to the entire country (not to mention world-class medical care for pediatric cancer).
More on Mt. St. Joe:
http://www.msj.edu/
And not to change the subject, but some people complain that people in Cincinnati are too parochial and not very inviting to newcomers, making it difficult for newcomers to be accepted. Yes, when you meet someone for the first time here and they ask where you went to school, they usually mean high school. But I have never perceived that to mean you're an outsider if you did not go to high school in the area. Rather, I think it's just the way people try to make connections and learn more about you and your background (Cincinnati neighborhoods are often quite different from one another--but I suppose that's not all that unusual for Midwestern cities of similar size). But, as someone who moved here about 25 years ago (in my late 20's), I think the perception of Cincinnati being unwelcoming to transplants is BS. My experience has been that anyone willing to embrace this place as a second "hometown" rather than a stopping point will be treated like lifelong resident.
And on top of all that, Cincinnati is home to one of the very best children's hospitals in the U.S. (#3 for pediatric cancer per U.S. N&WR). I still chuckle thinking back to when our middle child was getting his tonsils removed, and the number of people who asked "are you having it done at Chilrdren's [Hospital]?" Heck, I'm not even sure if any other hospital in town even bothers to offer such non-emergency, scheduled pediatric surgeries like that given that, in my opinion, no parent in their right mind would take their kid anyplace else unless it was an emergency.
