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I had an article all written and ready to go, but something caught my eye via Facebook. A special story, one that brought on the waterworks. A story about a little baby, fighting for her life. Ashlyn Riggins was born November 6th, with physical deformities and airway issues. Ashlyn is in hospice now, her mother and grandmother beside her. A two-year-old sister nearby, too.

I read the story over again. Three times to be exact. Then, I read the paper copy in the newspaper. Each time, tears gathered in my eyes and my heart broke. Ashlyn has problems breathing, sometimes, her mother Cassidy has to suction mucus out of her little mouth because she cannot swallow on her own. Sometimes, Ashlyn stops breathing. Then starts again. Watching the process has to be heart wrenching.

I don’t know Cassidy or her family. I don’t know much of her story other than the article from the Lincoln Journal Star and from the Go Fund Me page. I cannot imagine the mother’s pain, what she is going through day after day, what her family has seen. The hard choices. The struggles.

But I admire Cassidy’s strength and hope. Ashlyn is a precious little girl.

I donated too. Her daughter was born on the same day as my son.

My previous written article, cute and creative as it was, didn’t seem as important after reading Ashlyn’s struggles. The silliness of life, the little annoyances are nothing compared to the big picture and real struggles.

I ask you all, as busy as you are, to say a prayer for Ashlyn Riggins and her family.

You can read Ashlyn’s story below:

http://journalstar.com/news/local/lil-miss-babes-fight-nears-its-end/article_25a265bb-fa7a-5d94-903f-22b2e45bf982.html

http://www.gofundme.com/lilmissbabes

So God Made a Mother book by Leslie Means

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Kate Hula

Kate Hula began writing as soon as she could hold a crayon in her hand and has been hooked with words, writing and storytelling ever since. By first grade, Kate completed her first novel, The Butterfly Catcher, with several other grade level masterpieces that only her mother has seen. Her writing ambition brought her to the University of Nebraska- Kearney where she graduated with a degree in Journalism while working part-time at a local television station. As time progressed, Kate moved to Lincoln and found the one thing she wasn't looking for, love. She met her future husband at a cheesy 80's cover band concert and her life changed forever. While balancing married life and a full time job, Kate has just enough time to do what she loves the most, writing. Follow Kate's hilarious and unconventional blog, the vaultuncensored.com, about life as a thirty-something year old woman among a world of debauchery, annoyances and every day oddities that make life a little more interesting.

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