Drawing Strength And Perspective

This girl is my hero

Her name is Ashley Aven. She was diagnosed with AML leukemia at the age of 17. For a year she fought with everything in her, and unfortunately lost her battle on August 15th.

I remember thinking to myself on the day of her funeral how it was going to be a tough day.

I started feeling sorry for myself, then realized that Ashley would be thankful to have a bad day.

She was one of the strongest human beings I have ever met.

I played in an alumni softball game as a fundraiser for her family back in June.

I saw her earlier that day and remembered telling her how nervous I was seeing as I hadn't played ball in 5 years.

She offered me peace an encouragement and told me I'd do great.

Here I was, perfectly healthy, complaining about something that didn't even really matter.

And there she was, battling for her life, telling me everything was going to be okay.

Whenever I have a sad moment, I stop and think about Ashley.

I think about the hell she and her family went through with her battle and how she was so strong and courageous.

She always put others before herself and never once did she complain.

What a beautiful lesson in perspective.

Thank you Ashley for your life and legacy.

Blessings,

Nora