"The Little Girl Who Loved"

Recently, I met a young mother who wrote a children's book for her daughter, Ashley who passed away in 2005 when she was 7.

San San approached us for a book review. We don't do book reviews.

After some thought, I felt it might be a good story to share about San San's journey through the loss of Ashley and that's how we ended up with "The Little Girl Who Loved".

We met at Cafe Cartel at Serangoon Gardens. She's of the same age as my ruby-doo, really young.

So we started the interview and San San shared candidly with me everything she went through, from the first time she found out about Ashley's Brain Stem Tumour, her family's pilgrimage, the angels she met through her friends and family, how she handled Ashley's suffering over a year before she left.

Along the way, I had to swallow back lumps in my throat and blinked furiously to hold back the tears.

This brave, young mother wasn't going to break down, and neither am I. Who am I to steal that right to grief from her?

San San moved me a lot for her courage to be fearless. I cannot imagine how much this must have hurt her but she dealt with it, from beginning to end, and worked through the pain.

I had asked for Ashley's photo to accompany the story. And I had hesitated because I really didn't want to open up any wounds that might not have completely healed by making her look through old photos. But San San brought them and when I took them from her, I saw a most beautiful, sweet young girl. Gosh, that broke my heart!

I left Cafe Cartel shaking that afternoon, with a headache from tears I could not let fall freely. But through Ashley and San San, I have once again, witnessed the grace of God. Thank You.

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During the interview, San San had mentioned a good friend of hers who signed on with the RCIA after hearing of her story.

Last week at our Landings meeting at my Holy Spirit parish, while preparing for the pilot run, Mr C spoke of the book. San San had given a few hundred to that good friend who had just gotten baptized through the RCIA journey we had just passed. This friend donated the books to Mr C for fundraising if need be.

Apparently, San San's friend was one of our catechumens all along.