..: Heaven seems so far away :..
A sweet soul returned
back to Heaven too soon for us to understand here on earth. There things in
this life that none of us will ever understand. One is why God takes away our
friend before we are ready to say goodbye. Losing someone so close to you will
always a hard thing to handle, at least it will be for me. The fact of the
matter is that, you never want to let someone go. You want them to stay here
with you on earth. Not having them around and seeing their smiling face, is
such a hard thing to have to go through.
My friend Ashlee passed
away this past weekend. We were always so close growing up, and as the years
have gone by we have drifted apart. Life, School, and Friends can do that to
people. You never realize though how much you will cherish the memories you
created with someone. Until they are no longer a phone call away.
I will always remember
Ashlee for her, shall I call it “witty” sense of humor. She always wanted to
make you think that she didn’t care, but in all true honesty. She had one of
the biggest hearts I know. She would do anything, including give you the shirt
off her back if you needed it.
There have been so many
memories of our childhood that have flooded into my mind the last few days.
Here are a few of my favorite ones. I don’t have a lot of pictures of us
growing up, because we were kids and we didn’t carry cameras till we started
being teenagers with phones.
- I remember the day as
if it were yesterday. Ryan had been annoying us as he usually did when all of
us girls were over at the house hanging out in your purple bedroom. Finally we
took off after him and we were chasing his around the house. We turned the
corner and the grass was wet. We all slipped and collided into one another,
forming a massive pile on the front lawn. We all couldn’t stop laughing, with
huge grass stains all over our clothes.
- Girls Camp 2005 – It was my 3rd
year and your 2nd. Lindsey, Kylee, You, and I were all in the same
tent together. This was when you decided you were going to bring an entire
cooler of goodies, yes an entire cooler. You were so mad when you opened it up
and all the little punches had exploded all over the snacks. Oh well you aired
them out and wiped them off, determined to eat it all. You were obsessed with
your phone that year too. Oh I remember you took it everywhere because you
swore you were going to get service so you could text people in “civilization.”
You never did and finally gave up. On the car ride home, you phone seriously
didn’t stop buzzing or a solid 30 minutes one you had service. It was
hilarious.
- The day you told me you
were pregnant. We were in Samurai 21 and you very casually told me that you
were pregnant. You thought by telling me in a very public place I wouldn’t
freak out, oh but I did. Although at the time I didn’t know whether to be happy
or sad. Watching you through your pregnancy though, I could see it was such a
good thing for you. I loved it. Braxton was a miracle in your life.
- The day Lindsey ruined
my favorite white shorts and cute sandals. We had all decided we were going to
go out to dinner, and so we spent all this time getting ready and all cute.
Just in case we ran into cute boys or something, oh the life of little girls. I
remember we seriously were so loud and obnoxious in Chili’s, thought for sure
we were going to get kicked out. Well after dinner you started chasing Lindsey
in the parking lot when she slipped on the asphalt and went completely under my
car. White short were no longer white, and her leg was completely black to
match. I don’t think I had ever laughed so hard watching you too go after each
other that day, and then you almost peed you pants from laughing when she
turfed it. You honestly sat down on the ground outside, cross-legged, laughing
hysterically. Funniest day by far, that one is down in my books for best laugh
of a lifetime.
Geez I could go on and
on with all my memories, but I will just share one last one. Of course, the
best story is saved for last.
- Blue Bunny: The giant
colossal of Ice Cream. When I say giant, I am talking about the one where it
has like 25 scoops of ice cream in a huge bowl with whipped cream and
sprinkles. Yes, you could choose whatever kind of ice cream. If you ate it all,
you got it for free. So of course who decides that we are going to get it, and
we are going to finish it. No other than, Miss Ashlee Nelson. Holy that thing
was enormous. We didn’t even eat half of it with the three of us girls, yes
Lindsey was there because we were all inseparable. So the best part of this
story is that Ashlee made me pay the bill, which was like $25 in nothing other
than Quarters. Yes, you heard me right, Quarters. I wanted to die. Crawl in a
hole and die. The waitress looked at us like we were freaks, who carries that
much money around in quarters. Well I do.! Obviously.! Then to top it off, she
leaves thanks spelled out in quarters as a tip. Oh Ashlee the laughs we had. I
will miss them.
Ashlee, I am very
grateful for the time that we had while you were here on this earth. I am so
very sad to see you leave so early in life, all though I know you are up there
in Heaven watching down on Braxton and your family here. Please make sure to
wrap your arms around them tight, they all miss you very much. I will never
forget you, your smile, your laugh, and your friendship that we had. The short
years that we had while you were here, I will hold close to my heart. I will
cherish all the love, laughter, and memories made. Love you Ash, I hope heaven
is beautiful. Rest in Peace, till we met again.
I wanted to leave you
all with a poem and then some pictures of beautiful Ashlee and her darling boy Braxton
The Broken Chain
We little knew that
day,
God was going to call
your name.
In life we loved you
dearly,
In death, we do the
same.
It broke our hearts to
lose you.
You did not go alone.
For part of us went with
you,
The day God called you
home.
You left us beautiful
memories,
Your love is still our
guide.
And although we cannot
see you,
You are always at our
side
Our family chain is
broke,
And nothing seems the
same.
But as God calls us one
by one,
The chain will link
again.
-Ron Tranmer
Much Love, Kenzie.
