A Friend Remembers
The following blog, written by former Yale standout Caroline Murphy, appeared April 4 on the ESPN.com Web site.
By Caroline Murphy
The first time I met Mandi Schwartz, I had just run up six flights of stairs and burst out onto her landing. She had no idea who I was, and I had only seen her in pictures from preseason publicity reports (suited up in Team Canada apparel, pictures that promised a good ass-kicking the first time we were to face off against each other in practice).
But it was the first day of college, I had just said goodbye to my family, and I was searching for my new family: the girls I would spend the majority of my time with the next four years, and my first stop was a girl named Mandi Schwartz. Two years after that first encounter, on Dec. 8, 2008, we would hear that Mandi was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia.
And Sunday, at approximately 1:35 p.m., Mandi Schwartz, my friend, my teammate, passed away after a 27-month-long battle.
Complete article can be accessed via the ESPN Web site by clicking here.
