Asher “Bit” Brooklyn Ray – the stinkin’ cutest, cuddliest, funniest,
sweetest, prettiest, spunkiest, sassiest, boldest, kindest girl.
I will forever remember every single detail about
her, and I’ll never go a day without thinking of her. She impacted me deeply
and our friendship taught me so much. With the help of her amazing parents, she fought cancer like a champ.
I love that:
She always had a smile on her face.
She never met a stranger.
She loved My Mini Mixie Q’s.
She loved sweet tea.
She had the best giggle EVER.
She loved country music.
She loved country music.
She had the sense of humor of a 40-year-old and the
quick-whit sarcasm of her precious parents.
She loved animals – real or stuffed. Especially her tie-dye
stuffed bunny, “Bun Bun.”
She loved bomber jackets and jogger pants.
She loved dark chocolate.
She loved to play dress up.
She loved to have me fix her American Girl dolls’ hair.
She had a way with words.
She created a bond between the people around her without
even knowing it.
She taught me how to build a gingerbread house.
She bought me a friendship bracelet with her own money.
She is the only person I would EVER let cut 8 inches off of
my hair. #CutItForCancer
She loved Star Wars.
I could share a billion stories of special moments with
Asher that will remain in my mind forever, but I want to share some of my most favorite memories:
The very first time I found out Asher was going to be paired
with me as my Diamond State Princess at Miss Arkansas, I was eager to get to
know the special little girl I had heard so many good things about. But oh boy, I had no idea what was coming my
way.
On June 27, 2016, I walked up to her front door, to come in
and meet her, and she and Mrs. Susan answered the door, and she JUMPED into my
arms and said “Maggie Maggie Magggieeeee!!!!!” … A memorable first impression
that eased all of my nerves. That day we
played dress up and made outfits out of all of her scarves. That was a good day, and the first of many
more good days.
At Miss Arkansas 2016, we had visitation one night where the
contestants get to spend 15 minutes with their families. My family gathered for three or four
different versions of a family photo and Asher jumped into every single one of
them. YES! She was absolutely part of the family.
That following September, I attended the Arkansas Children’s
Hospital Superhero Dash-n-Bash event with Asher, her family, my family, and my
friend, Caroline. I will never forget
the humbling feeling of walking in having just straightened my super long brown
hair, and being there to fundraise for the Hematology/Oncology department of
the hospital. Caroline and I made the
quick decision that there were plenty of people that needed that hair much more
than us. Asher came over to the booth
and took a pair of scissors to my long hair.
It was such a fun moment for us.
She said, “Can I keep it?!”
That December, we made a gingerbread house together and
THREE TIMES I tried to correctly set up the walls and roof so we could get
started. She sat and stared while I
tried and tried again. Finally, she
couldn’t take it anymore, “Want me to do it?”
Fixed the whole thing in about two seconds… What would I do without her?
In January, we attended Cinderella at the Robinson Center
and she sat in my lap the whole time – you can imagine how fun that was. After it was over, she got a backstage tour
and got to sit on the grand staircase beside the glass slippers for a photo-op. That tugged MAJORLY on some heart strings.
In March, I sat in her art room while she finished making
the solar system that she would soon hang on her ceiling. She painted me a little hippopotamus that
she’d had. It was pink and purple and I
got to keep it. She walked me to my car
in her white artist jacket and stood in my door so I wouldn’t leave.
In June, Miss Arkansas round 2, it was Tuesday night of
preliminaries – evening gown night – meaning she and my other DSP, Adalynn,
would escort me onstage. While all the
little princesses were running around to get in their places backstage, I was
stressing to get to my side of the stage and when I passed her in the hallway,
she reached out and grabbed my hand and said, “Don’t forget, you’re beautiful.”
HEART MELT.
“It’s okay if you don’t win, you can be my babysitter.”
On June 17th, I had just won the crown and I was
escorted to the after party room where hundreds of people waited to celebrate
with me. Asher met me at the door,
“Maggie Maggie Maggie!!!!” and escorted me from the door all the way through
all of the people to the photo booth where I would take pictures that
night. Seemingly the only person who
wasn’t afraid to walk up and take my hand in that moment. I love her.
In the weeks leading up to the trip to Atlantic City, Asher
was having to spend her days at Arkansas Children’s to continue to fight her
battle. I would go up there every few
days to hang out, and she was released the week before finals night at Miss
America. She and Mrs. Susan jumped on a
private plane (thank you to ALL who made that possible) to come support me at
Miss America. I cannot even explain how
much that meant to me.
On Saturday before finals, the Show Us Your Shoes Parade had begun, and I had yet to see my girl.
Finally, as I’m approaching the AR section along the route, my girl is
standing waiving her Arkansas flag, “Maggie Maggie MAGGIE!!!!!”
Monday morning, September 11th, Asher and I get to really see each other for the first time since I’ve been there and she greets me with Bun Bun and a new friendship bracelet. All is well with the world again. We hop on our flight and head back to our favorite state. She loved that flight more than that pageant.
Since then, we spent a lot of time at her house trying to focus on YouTube videos about making miniature toys for her dolls
and how many My Mini Mixie Q’s she could collect. I’ll never forget the last kiss on her forehead,
the last real giggle I heard, the last time I looked at her and said, “Love you so
much, see you next time,” and next time meant heaven.
Cancer. A word that we all hate. This is a broken world that we live in, but it is not our home.
That kid changed my life and the lives of so many - whether they knew her or not. May her story encourage us to live life to the FULL, with JOY in the midst of trials, with LOVE in the midst of pain, with COURAGE in the midst of questions.
That kid changed my life and the lives of so many - whether they knew her or not. May her story encourage us to live life to the FULL, with JOY in the midst of trials, with LOVE in the midst of pain, with COURAGE in the midst of questions.
Thank you, Justin and Susan, for sharing the coolest kid on Earth.
I love you BIG, Asher B. “Maggie Maggie Maggie,” will play
over and over in my mind forever.
See you next time.
