December 1st, was a bittersweet day for me. I always think about my friend from high school on this day. Ashley and I grew up going to the same elementary, middle and high school for a total of 10 years! If you look at her picture you can see why she was such a joy to have as a friend. She absolutely defined joy. I think its funny that she hated this picture...her sophomore yearbook picture...but I think it was all things Ashley. She was crazy smart, intelligent, and mature. By our sophomore year of high school she knew she was going to a preppy, Ivy league school up in New England to study Women's Literature or some kind of English! We both took piano lessons and played in endless, boring recitals together. She had an amazing voice. In fact, right before Thanksgiving break of our Sophomore year, we had try-outs for a big NC State competition amongst private schools. I knew she was trying out so I went and stood outside of the door to hear her. She sang "In Christ Alone" and it was breathtaking. Every.single.time. I hear that song, I think of her. We would later all sing that song at her funeral. Phillipians 4:13 is on her headstone. Ashley taught me some of the most valuable, enduring lessons that have stuck like seared iron over the years. During our Freshmen year we went our separate ways a bit and chose different friend groups to spent our time with. By the beginning of our Sophomore year, we were getting caught up in little petty stuff (funny how I can't remember for the life of me what it was! Shows how important that was, huh?) Showing the kind of person she was, she called my house one night and said she wanted to be close again and get over this little petty stuff. We ended up talking for over an hour that night catching up on all things "us." We were about to pick up where we left off and become the closest of friends again. Not many people know about that phone call...I have treasured it for many years. How grateful I am that she was the bigger heart and picked up the phone to call me and make things right. You see, not too long after that, probably a month or so, we all went home for Thanksgiving break. Over the weekend, we got a call that Ashley had been rushed to the Emergency Room where she was unconsciousness, on every life supporting machine you can imagine and not doing well. They discovered she had a brain tumor, maybe from birth, they don't know, but she never woke up. We lined the hallway outside of ICU for days and prayed and prayed for her. She died December 1, 1998...4 days shy of turning 16. Her death rocked my world. I think about her often because in a funny twist of fate, Ryan works for her Dad. So we are able to stay in touch with their sweet family all throughout the year. Yesterday on Facebook, all of my high school friends were making comments about her and remembering her...13 years later. What a testimony to her impact on us! I catch myself thinking about how sad I am that her life was cut so short. But then the Lord pricks my heart and reminds me her life was not cut short one day, not one minute, not one second. She lived every moment our Sovereign God has planned for her. He was not caught by surprise that day I got a phone call that she had died. Ashley accomplished exactly what the Lord had planned for her 15 year life and she is still accomplishing His plans for her as He continues to teach me and my classmates about Himself all these years later.
Psalm 118:36..."You scheduled each day of my life before I began to breathe."
Ashley Blair...what a beauty you were! You are still reminding us of the lessons you taught in your short, beautiful life. Miss you!
