My grandmother Sally sent this to me today. It almost made me cry. Maybe because I take life for granted or that most recently last Thursday my cousin in law Ashley Shanahan Whitehead died at only 24. Life is short. I hope everyone that reads this see something special in life. I know Ashley did not take life for granted, she wanted to see everything and be there for everyone. When I had my daughter Sarah on June 16th, 2006, besides my husband, the nurses, and Dr. Grady.. Ashley was by my side, waiting for her precious baby cousin be born. I had not yet even entered her family. Me and Brian did not wed for another 3 months and 1 day. Yet she wanted to be there to help, she even took my birthing pictures after only knowing me for about 9 months. My mother died when I was 5 years old, so the only person I had to help me learn all the wonderful things about motherhood (besides Sarah of course!) was Ashley. Even though she had a feisty baby girl Kaylee at home, she was always there to help me with everything, from Sarah's first bath, to breast feeding and pumping. Just remember that there is no time like the present, and if I were to die tomorrow I would hope to be remembered as caring, thoughtful, and wonderful as Ashley:
Today is Special:
A friend of mine opened his wife's underwear drawer and picked up a silk paper
wrapped package:
'This, - he said - isn't any ordinary
package.'
He unwrapped the box and stared at both the silk paper and the
box.
'She got this the first time we went to New York , 8 or 9 years ago.
She has never put it on , was saving it for a special occasion.
Well, I
guess this is it.
He got near the bed and placed the gift box next to
the other clothing he was taking to the funeral house, his wife had just died.
He turned to me and said:
'Never save something for a special
occasion.
Every day in your life is a special occasion'.
I still
think those words changed my life.
Now I read more and clean
less.
I sit on the porch without worrying about anything.
I spend
more time with my family, and less at work..
I understood that life
should be a source of experience to be lived up to, not survived through.
I no longer keep anything.
I use crystal glasses every day...
I'll wear new clothes to go to the supermarket, if I feel like
it.
I don't save my special perfume for special occasions, I use it
whenever I want to.
The words 'Someday....' and ' One Day...' are fading
away from my dictionary.
;
If it's worth seeing, listening or doing, I
want to see, listen or do it now...
I don't know what my friend's wife
would have done if she knew she wouldn't be there the next morning, this nobody
can tell.
I think she might have called her relatives and closest
friends.
She might call old friends to make peace over past quarrels.
I'd like to think she would go out for Chinese, her favorite food.
It's these small things that I would regret not doing, if I knew my time
had come..
Each day, each hour, each minute, is special.
Live for
today, for tomorrow is promised to no-one.
If you got this, it's because
someone cares for you and because, probably, there's someone you care about.
In Loving Memory of Ashley Shanahan Whitehead

September 27th 1984 - March 26th, 2009