There was once a Miss Precious long before my Miss Precious.
12 years to be exact.
When she was two years old and we asked her when her birthday was she used to say, “December Two-two.”
That’s today.
She would have been 14 today.
And horribly embarrassed (though happy) that I wrote a blog post about her for her birthday. Why didn’t I do that before while she was here and could have seen it? Because I was trying to keep the posts only about “green” things? I could have painted her green. Her face, her arms, her hair. She would have loved it.
She ADORED playing Old Maid. She would get so tickled. And being the non-polished liar she was, she found it impossible to keep a straight face when she had the Old Maid card in her hand.
We all knew.
I choose to remember this moment in time today. It is one of my favorites. All games of Old Maid with her are. I should have played it more. Every time she asked I should have put down what I was doing and played it with her. She would laugh and laugh.
See that dimple right there? I loved that. She didn’t show it all the time but in this picture, I caught it.
At this moment she was happy. She’d had a long day of horse back riding camp in Norfolk, VA in 90 degree heat and she’d eaten a good dinner that she helped me cook. We’d finished her math problems and she deserved a fun break. Grandma made sure the Old Maid cards were packed. We all laughed a lot that night. I stayed up until midnight that evening writing out addition and subtraction problems to test her on all that week. She was so proud to show her mom how fast she was on the tests when we hit the hotel room in West Virginia for our meet up point.
She is thought of every single day.
Missed every single day.
And loved just as much now as she was when she was physically present.
Every. Single. Day.
May all thoughts go out to my sister and her husband today as they travel their path together. You are thought of and loved. As was and is your child, Ashley Marie.
Happy Birthday baby girl!
Attempting zero waste lifestyle in a military household 
Yes Happy Birthday Ashley wherever you are in Heaven. My Mom dies today, 45 years ago , she also is sadly missed every single day. Maybe she is looking after you.
You may no longer be on this Earth either of you, but you are definitely not forgotten
I like the thought of her with your mother. Thank you for that!
So beautiful Jennifer. She is now an angel looking down on you. Happy Birthday to Ashley Marie.
Thank you Jami! We appreciate that so much.
Thank you for the reminder how prescious the gift of now is.
Thank you Bishop.
beautifully said!
Aunt Pat, a hug. Thank you for being there in the hospital with us. I’ll never forget that.
Catching up with e-mails and your blogs. This is such a heart warming tribute to Ashley, it brought me to tears. I too wish I had been there more for her and in her life, a lot more than I was. You know how much I love you, Preston and Renee’. Renee’ will always be my baby girl and I have Ashley in my heart and on my mind each and everyday. I wish she could have known how much she influenced our world in her short life.
Thank you Aunt Jackie. Your words mean more than you could ever know. We love you.