“Ashokan Farewell” is a song that grabbed my soul years ago and has never let go.
By the way, it’s pronounced “uh-SHOKE-un”. I wasn’t sure until tonight. You learn something new every day!
Today is Friday, April 27, 2007.
Today, she would be 20.
Ashley Jean O’Rear was born on April 27, 1987, in Corpus Christi, Texas. I was 25 years old, Susan was 22, and Ashley was our first child. We were young, and we were so excited to have been blessed by God with such a beautiful child. Ashley was the classic “bundle of joy”. Her presence in our lives would cause us to experience life, and love, and joy from a whole new perspective and at a much deeper level than we had ever imagined before becoming parents. In the words of a song that I wrote in Ashley’s memory shortly after her death, “The day you came into my life, my world began anew. I didn’t know that love could run as deep as I love you.”
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