A little over a week ago I sat in a pew at my home church and wept as I remembered the life of one of the most beautiful people I’ve ever known. It’s been a very long time since Ashley and I were close, but at one time, we were good friends. We had a special relationship and special names for one another. She wasn’t Ash. She was Shley. I wasn’t LA or Les. I was Lie (like Les-lie). I, being three years older than her, considered her my “little sister” in the youth group. She always made me laugh, and we had such wonderful memories.
I remember teaching her the alto lines in our youth choir. Leaning over and singing the notes into her ear so that she could hear the harmony. We went to Knoxville and painted that falling-apart house that was scheduled to be torn down and replaced. But we did it anyway. Ashley kept taking a break to talk to the owners of the house. She shared her light with them. We were just trying to make things better for them in the short term. We got in trouble on that trip. If you ask me why, I might tell you someday.
I remember when she found out she had cancer, six years ago. I was a sophomore at Mississippi State. She was a senior in high school. When mom told me the news, my jaw dropped in shock. Ashley? Cancer? It couldn’t be. She was one of those girls that everyone loved. She was gorgeous, one of the most popular girls in her school. Captain of the soccer team, on the homecoming court and student council. If you didn’t know her, you would assume that she was one of the “pretty people” who couldn’t care less about others. But that wasn’t the case with Ashley. She was a kind and gentle person, always willing to widen her circle to let others in.
