Who we truly are is only dimly apparent in high school. Those who knew Cynthia Pratt Bryant during those years would probably have commented on her delightful humor and smiled to themselves in remembrance. Through the years that followed high school, her intellect and compassion became more visible. She left Reynolds to attend UNC's School of Nursing--therefore able to get to Chapel Hill her freshman year, while most of the female students seeking that fabled Tar Heel land had to wait until their junior year to transfer. Cynthia emerged from a world that fed her interest in health care with a B.S.N. in nursing. After working in nursing, she decided to extend her medical knowledge and attended physician's assistant school at Emory University School of Medicine. Her remaining working years were in that field. It is worth noting that both at UNC-Chapel Hill and Emory, Cynthia graduated in the top group in her class. She was a committed health care worker: a skilled diagnostician and deeply compassionate toward her patients.

Throughout her dedicated professional life and equally dedicated care of each of her parents throughout their declining health and deaths, Cynthia battled depression. Her courage while experiencing that darkness was more than most of us can know. She finally surrendered to the depression and died shortly before her fiftieth birthday. Theologian Henri Nouwen wrote that "we live as God's beloved before we [are] born and after we have died," and that "all the circumstances in between will not negate that." Cynthia blessed so many during her life. We miss her humor and warmth. We take comfort that she is at peace as God's beloved.