Ashley was baptized on July 27, 1991 at St. Therese Catholic Church in Jackson, Mississippi by her Great Uncle Monsignor John Scanlon.  This occasion as we saw it was that of an unforgettable occasion as we watched as Ashley imbued by a miracle through the touch of her Uncle Monsignor John’s hand as he baptized her in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.  This miracle was witnessed and celebrated by every member of the huge Scanlon Family clan.

                In the early years, Ashley was your typical everyday fun loving, happy child.  She loved to dance, swim and play with friends.  She was raised in a middle class home with a loving mother and father and younger brother Garrett (4 ½ years younger).  Ashley also had a wonderful relationship with her grandparents whom adored her.  She adored them back and was especially close to her grandfather who she looked up to as one of her earliest spiritual directors.  Ashley was raised Roman Catholic and attended church regularly, as well as CCD.  She first received the sacrament of Reconciliation in April of 2000 and made her 1^st Holy Communion on May 20, 2000. Ashley began altar serving at her parish, St. Peter & St. Paul in September 2000.       

                During her primary school years, Ashley attended a variety of public schools.  Even at a very early age, Ashley was always open to new opportunities and enjoyed meeting new people.  She was an includer who sought out others who needed a friend to talk to.  She was a compassionate soul.  By her middle school years, she had attended 4 different elementary schools and 2 different middle schools.  She made friends easily and was a good student. 

                Numerous times during Ashley’s childhood it was mentioned to us by friends, family members and acquaintances that Ashley had a maturity about her that was beyond her biological age.  This progressively became more prominent as she approached her teens and grew by leaps and bounds as she entered high school. 

                During her freshman year of high school, Ashley attended a public high school called Los Osos High.  Many of her best friends also attended there.  She was ecstatic to be attending high school with so many good friends and couldn’t wait for her high school journey to begin.

                In September of 2005, Ashley began participating in Life Teen at her local parish, St Peter & St Paul.  She occasionally attended Life Teen after Mass but it wasn’t until her physical therapist challenged her to get more involved in Life Teen that Ashley’s journey truly began. 

                In July of 2006 Ashley attended her 1^st Steubenville conference at SDSU.  She attended the conference with hesitance and felt as though this was not the place for her.  She called us the first night of the conference and asked us to come pick her up because she just didn’t belong.   On Saturday evening, she participated in Adoration which was a life changing event for her.  At Adoration, Ashley allowed herself to completely open up and that’s when she shared that she ‘really’ prayed for the first time and this is what she said:

Then Sunday came and Ashley didn’t want the conference to end.  She had a life changing experience at this conference where she discovered that she wanted to make some immediate changes in her life.

                On Sunday evening when Ashley returned home, we knew that something had changed.  We sat down as a family and she explained the experience that she had just had at Steubenville.  That same night she asked us if we would consider allowing her to attend a Catholic High School.  She wanted religion to be a daily part on her high school life.  We agreed and within a month she was enrolled at Pomona Catholic High School. 

                Ashley continued on her faith journey attending each and every retreat and religious conference that was available to her:  Inspiration, LTND, Discipleship Week, LEAD, Steubenville Conferences, Confirmation retreats, and the list goes on.  She was also an active participant in TLC (Teens Leading Core), an Altar Server, a Lector, a Eucharistic Minister and participated in Campus Ministry at school.  She loved to serve others and eventually logged more than 700 community service hours during her high school years. 

                As part of her faith journey, Ashley developed an indescribable devotion to the Eucharist.  The best way that I can think to describe this devotion is that every Friday night her idea of fun was to fill her car with her friends and head to church to participate in Adoration.  Ashley had a dream in this life and that dream was to fill her local parish with people during Adoration.  She often shared with her family and friends that she didn’t understand why more people didn’t make it a regular part of their life to go to Adoration at each and every opportunity they had to do so.  With all her being, Ashley attempted to bring everyone who she came in contact with, closer to Christ.  It was her passion and what she lived to do.         

                On the evening of May 14^th, 2008 Ashley was confirmed by Bishop Barnes a St Peter & St Paul Catholic Church in Alta Loma, California. Ashley couldn’t wait to receive this sacrament and she was ecstatic that she was finally going to be able to receive the Holy Spirit and take on the name of St Maria Goretti.  I cannot describe in words how our daughter radiated Christ on this holy evening.  She was set aglow and she never stopped sharing her excitement for Christ in everything that she did.  Little did we know that this girl who we already knew had a devotion to Christ would now step it up to the next level.  Little did we know that Ashley was now on a six month mission to share Christ’s love with as many people as was humanly possible, she wanted to make certain that everyone she came in contact with walked away with a new found knowledge of love and devotion for Our Lord Jesus Christ!

                In September 2008, Ashley and I took a trip to the east coast to visit various colleges that she was interested in attending.  The 2^nd college we visited was Franciscan University of Steubenville where she spent an overnight visit with students in one of the dorms.  When I arrived at school the following morning, Ashley saw me across campus and ran at top speed towards me with one of the biggest smiles on her face that I had ever seen.  The first words out her mouth when she reached me were “I’m home…, this is it.”  She explained that she didn’t need to look any further and that Franciscan was her college of choice.  She applied and was accepted in early November 2008.  Her plan was to major in Theology with a minor in Catechetical Studies. 

                On November 5^th, 2008 Ashley packed 2 suitcases to prepare for the two retreats that she was headed off to lead over the following four days.  She left bright and early the morning of November 6^th to help lead her high school’s junior retreat.  At this retreat Ashley helped lead her junior class to a closer relationship with Christ.  As part of this retreat Ashley was able to participate in Reconciliation, Mass, Eucharistic Minister and led small group sessions.  She had a memorable experience at this retreat and when she returned home on Friday afternoon, she told us all about it.  Then she showered, dressed and grabbed her second suitcase and headed off with her father to the weekend retreat that she was helping to lead for the year two confirmation students at our parish. 

                The evening of November 7^th, 2008 Ashley arrived at St. Andrew Abby’s in Valyermo, California.  The Abby, as it is referred to, is one of Ashley’s favorite places on this earth.  The theme of this particular retreat was centered on the theological virtues (faith, hope, love) and took the participant through life on this earth, death and heaven.  At this retreat, Ashley helped to lead a small group of year two confirmation students, took part in presentations to the group, and played the main part in “The Everything” video (which you can view on this website under videos).  Ashley also participated in Reconciliation and Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament and Mass on each day.  On Sunday, November 9^th, 2008 the Life Teen group arrived back at our parish in time to participate in the 5:00PM Life Teen Mass.  It was beyond wonderful to see our daughter back home, participating at Mass with all of her fellow brothers and sisters.  They all came back with a renewed energy and “on fire” for our Lord.  The theme song to this particular retreat was “Song of Hope” and we will never forget watching our teens sing this song at the top of their lungs asking God of Heaven to come down.  It was beyond beautiful.

                On Monday, November 10^th, Ashley and her brother didn’t have school so they stayed home, hung out together, talked and watched movies.  It was a perfect day.  In the late afternoon, we received a phone call from our parish asking if there was any chance that Ashley would be available to altar serve at a special Mass that evening at 7:00PM.  It was a Mass for the deceased.  When Ashley was asked to serve, she jumped at the opportunity to serve our Lord and she was there at 6:30PM ready and willing to assist.  I remember her coming home and talking about the Mass and sharing that it was kind of sad to see all of the people there who had lost loved ones over the past year.  She recalled losing her grandmother on Christmas Day 2006 and how we had just a year ago been attending this Mass in her memory.  Ashley shared that she had kept it together even though she was sad and missed her grandmother, but she said what helped her get through was her faith in God and knowing that she was in a better place now, sharing eternity in Heaven with Jesus Christ, Our Heavenly Father, Our Blessed Mother and all of the angels and saints.

                On the morning of November 14^th, 2008 our beautiful wingless angel, Ashley Michele Scanlon-Smith received her wings to fly.  As she slept peacefully in her room, snuggled up in her bed, our glorious Father came down and asked Ashley if she was ready to go home with Him.  We envision that she leapt into His arms, gave Him a huge hug and said “you bet”.  I’m sure that she had questions about leaving her family and friends, but I know that our glorious Lord assured her that He would make sure that her family and friends were taken care of, and He has done just that.  As a family who misses their beautiful daughter more than words can express, we thank and praise God for the opportunity that He allowed us to have Ashley in our lives for the incredible 17 years, 11 months and 3 days that she was here.  She was and is the most amazing daughter, sister, granddaughter, and friend that anyone could have ever asked for.  She was the most faithful, compassionate, generous, love filled individual who changed and continues to change the lives of everyone who knew her or hears about her story.  We who were privileged to know her call her a saintly figure, and those who never even saw her face or heard her voice, have also felt her saintly virtues.  So I’ll close with a sentence that Ashley used at the end of her testimony that was given by her at Steubenville 2008...