In Loving Memory of Jackson Ashley
July 29th, 2003 - January 2, 2013
Prologue
On April 14th, 2006, our 2-year old, Jackson, was diagnosed with a brain tumor. It turned out to be a rare form of cancer called Choroid Plexus Carcinoma.
This is our story . . .
Meet Jackson
April 2006
Jack and I prayed for a baby for over 10 years and we had all but given up. We decided that we wanted to be parents and it didn’t matter how we got a baby, we just wanted one. Once we realized that we probably weren’t going to be able to experience a pregnancy, we decided to adopt. We went thru our adoption classes in the summer of 2002, filled out all the paperwork, went thru four major interviews, and finally in early December 2002 we had our home visit which then led to our officially being approved as adoptive parents in waiting. All that was left was for us to be chosen by a mother wishing to place her child with us. The adoption process was long, emotional, tiring, and very invasive, but we were up to the task, we couldn’t wait to hold our baby in our arms. It just so happened that in late December, Christmas day in fact, that we learned that we were pregnant! Talk about miracles, we had just experienced one. My pregnancy went along fine, however Jackson was born one month early and had to spend almost three weeks in the neonatal intensive care. We brought Jackson home around the middle of August and he’s been such a joy to our lives. We know that God answers prayers and performs miracles; we see it everyday when we look into his precious face.
The one thing that we learned from our infertility and the emotions that went along with it is that God is in control, HE has a time table and it isn’t about what we want and when we want it, it is all in HIS time, and HIS timing is perfect. We are relying on that knowledge today, we know that God is in control of this situation and God will do things in HIS perfect timing.
To help you get to know Jackson I can tell you that he is a sweet little boy who is easy going, has the sweetest smile, and has the most precious and contagious laugh. He loves green beans, mashed potatoes, fish sticks, and chicken tenders. His favorite snacks are teddy grahams. He knows his full name, can count to 10, and can sing the ABC song. His favorite songs are Jesus Loves Me, The Wheels on the Bus, Momma’s Angel Baby (we made it up), Deep and Wide, and the Barney song (I love you, you love me). His favorite hobby is playing with his trains; he adores Thomas the Tank Engine. I think he owns 3 of everything but he doesn’t care, the more the better! Jackson also uses his manners and is very polite. Of course he has that gorgeous red hair and beautiful blue eyes. He does have that red headed temper that comes out every once in a while and it usually comes out when we are at church.
Jackson loves Jesus and knows that Jesus loves him. We all know that Jesus loves him very much and He is watching over Jackson, walking beside Jackson, and even carrying him at times, as He is all of us. Please continue to pray for our little angel. We appreciate all the prayers, cards, and entries in his guestbook.