Round-Trip Ticket

Happy 25th Birthday to my sweet Ashley.



Do you know Ashley?  I've talked about her before, here.  Ashley is my oldest niece. She is like a sister, really.  She passed away in July of 2007.

2007 that seems so long ago, yet that day... that day feels like yesterday.  It's funny how the horrible feelings of one moment never leave you.  When I transport myself back to that moment when I heard my mother tell me this time Ashley wasn't going to be okay my heart sinks to my stomach all over again.  This must be why people who have lived through trauma have such a hard time letting go.  It's so easy to let those feelings replay over and over.  So easy.

I love this quote by Russell M. Nelson,
"Life does not begin with birth, nor does it end with death. Prior to our birth, we dwelled as spirit children with our Father in Heaven. There we eagerly anticipated the possibility of coming to earth and obtaining a physical body. Knowingly we wanted the risks of mortality, which would allow the exercise of agency and accountability. “This life [was to become] a probationary state; a time to prepare to meet God.” (But we regarded the returning home as the best part of that long-awaited trip, just as we do now. Before embarking on any journey, we like to have some assurance of a round-trip ticket. Returning from earth to life in our heavenly home requires passage through—and not around—the doors of death. We were born to die, and we die to live.  As seedlings of God, we barely blossom on earth; we fully flower in heaven."

In 2007 it was time for her to hand in her round trip ticket and head home to a loving Heavenly Father who I have no doubt welcomed her with open arms.  What a joyous reunion.

We miss her, we love her.  She was one of the happiest people I had ever had the pleasure of loving, somehow I have no doubt she happier and blossomming even more in Heaven.

Till we see her again, and everyone we love again.
Happy Birthday Ash!