Ashley

My 11 year old grand daughter died 2 weeks ago. She was doing something she loved the most....being with her family out on their boat.Her summers were filled with playing and animals and the outdoors. The water and her crab pots were among her favorites. She had come to Colorado this summer also. She had just returned home after visiting us with her brother, Jacob.

They have been coming out for 2 weeks for the past few summers, and we all really looked forward to these visits. We would have cookouts and lots of family over every day. Ashley would plan plays and craft days that she and her cousins would have. She was definitely the "ring leader" of all the grand kids and they all had a blast.

But this visit was a little different from the rest. She and I spent alot of time together---ALONE! That is unusual in this family to spend time ALONE with anyone as to the sheer numbers of people our family has. But we were able to, Ashley and I.

We went shopping together, out for lunch and even had tea together on my back porch. We had many talks about family, school, ballet and growing up. She was only 11, but had such in site into subjects that most of her peers would not even think about.

She struggled with being in dance anymore because she was troubled by the words to some of the music she was asked to dance to. She wondered if she would be a good older sister as she continued to grow up and asked why it was so hard to get older. She wanted her relationships to stay the same with her little sisters and brother, and she never wanted to be the "mean older sister".

She worried that she had trouble controlling her tongue and wanted to always say kind words and not to hurt anyone by something she might blurt out. She was on a quest to read through her Bible, and read each night under the covers in our guest bed with a tiny light glowing around her smiling face.

She came with us to play practice for the Wizard of Oz---a movie she had never seen. She sat watching as the kids learned dance moves to their parts. After a moment or two she ran to the back of the chorus line and learned the dance steps right along with all of the high school kids! She was able to pick it up so quickly that she showed us the entire dance in just a few minutes!

Then we went home and watched The Wizard of Oz together....she loved it!

She had the biggest hugs, the widest smile and seemed always ready for her next adventure. She loved to sit on our laps with her long arms draped over our necks and watch TV. Singing and dancing would burst spontaneously from her and she had the cutest laugh!

She loved her Lord Jesus for what he had done for her on the cross and was willing to serve God anyway He saw fit...but she hoped it was not being a nurse like her mom....she did not think she could handle all the blood! She wanted me to pick out books for her from my library that I thought she would like.....but not books with a predictable ending....(like everyone lived happily ever after). She wanted biographies of people who had made a difference....who had mattered...who had paid the price. Her eyes got wide as I told her about Fanny Crosby and Annie Sullivan and Helen Keller. She told me about Corrie Ten Boom and Indian captives that she had read about.

We stayed in the library a long time that afternoon talking and sharing and finally packing up a stack of books for her to take home. She didn't want to forget Jacob and had me pick out some books for him that I thought he might like as well.Then the time came for them to go home.

As we were standing waiting for the airplane to take her back to her mom and dad, she threw her arms around me for one last hug. It was tight, and long and she did not let go. She whispered into my shoulder, "I just want one more day grandma, just one more day...."

So do I Ashley, so do I.