RICHMOND, Va. — Family, friends, and colleagues gathered at Richmond's Chimborazo Park on Saturday to honor the life of Hope Cartwright.
The 23-year-old associate editor for Virginia Living Magazine died after being hit by a car while she was crossing the street in Richmond on Feb. 16.
Those closest to Cartwright remembered her as a promising writer with a gift for storytelling who knew how to reach the people she spoke with.
"Hope Cartwright, what a name to have lived up to. What a name to leave behind," Madeline Mayhood, the magazine's editor-in-chief, said. "She was funny, she was pretty. She was shy and confident at the same time."
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During the memorial, loved ones leaned on the written word — an art form they said Cartwright loved most — to express their grief and share memories.
Virginia Living Magazine Digital Editor Gabriela de Camargo Gonçalves read a piece by Cartwright's favorite poet, Mary Oliver.
"To live in this world, you must do three things. To love what is mortal, to hold it against your bones knowing your life depends on it. And when the time comes to let it go, to let it go," Gonçalves read from “In Blackwater Woods.”
Mayhood also used nature to describe Cartwright's personality, reading from Oliver's "The Sun."
"Do you think there is any word in any language or word billowing enough for the pleasure that fills you as the sun reaches out and warms you," Mayhood said.
Mayhood said the promising young woman loved pink, her partner and her family "with her whole heart."
Holly Thompson, Cartwright's eldest sister, recited the lyrics to Mumford & Sons' "Beloved" in remembrance of her sister.
"Before you leave, you must know you are beloved. And before you leave, just know that I was with you," Thompson said. "That’s the thing that I’ve been asking about, and over the past couple of weeks, I know that she knew that she was beloved."
Cartwright's partner, Caroline Bell, found meaning in Cartwright's name to make sense of the tragedy.
"When I think about her name, Hope, I find it perfect," Bell said.
She said that she still feels Cartwright's presence.
"When I see a pretty flower, or the sun comes out, or I hear a song she liked, to me, it's her responding to my wishes, saying with a smile, 'Caroline, look around. You still do. You still have me.'" Bell said. "I'll carry her with me as long as I live. I’ll always have Hope."
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