When an Auntie loses a niece or nephew, especially at a young age, it's a tragedy. When that loss happens in the public eye, it can add a different dimension of pain to what is already a heartbreaking loss.

Suzi Hileman is one of those brave Aunties who has had the courage to speak out about the tragic death of her niece by choice, Christina Taylor Green.

Hileman, a 58-year-old retiree, had been friends with Green for three years since moving to Tuscon with her husband in 2007. The couple told Brian Williams of NBC Nightly News that they looked upon her as an adopted grandchild. (Hileman and her husband are the parents of two grown children, and are adamant that they have not put any pressure on them to have children of their own.)

Hileman said she'd received a robo-call from Congresswoman Giffords inviting constituents to the "Congress on Your Corner" event the next day, and she decided to ask Green if she'd like to go together.

"I asked if Christina was free and asked if she wanted to go," Hileman said. "She was excited about it; she wanted to learn; she wanted to ask a question."

On the way out of the driveway, Hileman asked Green's mother, Roxana, if she didn't want to reconsider.

"'Rox, does she really want to do this? This is a dorky political thing with an old lady,'" Hileman recounted. "She said, 'Suze, anything you take her to, she's going to love.'"

As the two friends waited in line at the event, Hileman was talking to Christina, helping her to focus and relax as she waited excitedly to ask Congresswoman Giffords a question.

"I said to Christina, 'That could be you. There is no reason on God's green earth that you can't grow up and be that if that's what you want to be.'"

The next thing Hileman knew, she and Christina were lying on the concrete, eye-to-eye. Hileman recalled saying, "Christina Taylor Green, don't you die on me, don't you go away from me girlfriend, don't leave me here to do this by myself!"

Though the events of January 8, 2011, are a blur to Hileman, she told Williams that she had already realized that her friend had died.

"I think I knew... lying on the ground while I was looking at her; her face changed," Hileman said. "But she wasn't by herself; we were there together, holding hands."

Though Hileman has been coping well physically, she still struggles to cope with her feelings of remorse and sadness at the loss of Christina. In words that are chilling to every Auntie, ABC and Godmother, she said, "I was responsible for her. It was my job to bring her home to her mom and dad."

"I lost a friend two weeks ago," Hileman said. "She was in my life. You would've loved her. She was one of those bright-eyed, open-to-the-world, high-self-esteem kids. She had those eyes, and she just wanted to listen. She was up for anything."

"I miss her."

Published: January 26, 2011