November 13, 2025: Today we celebrate our beautiful Ashlynne on what would have been her 21st birthday. So many milestones have come and gone, and though we’ve marked each one, they’ve never felt complete without her.
Ashlynne was an achiever—bright, determined, and full of promise. I often find myself wondering what incredible things she would have accomplished by now. My sweet girl continues to grow in spirit, even if she can’t be here to share in all that life has brought since she left us.
Her favorite food was spaghetti, so today our family gathers to share a meal, to play her favorite music, and to celebrate the joy she brought into every life she touched. I imagine her energy dancing around us, light and free, mingling with laughter, song, and memory. I feel her with me in every butterfly, dragonfly, and hummingbird that crosses my path. She gave so much of herself to this world, and though unseen, she has never truly left us.
Ashlynne is our angel, always watching over us—a loving soul who knew only how to love others. When she left us so suddenly, our hearts broke open. But from that heartbreak came purpose. I have carried her spirit with me as I’ve worked to bring about change, to protect others as she would have done. I believe she guided us, pulling the strings from above, helping to pass a law—the Ashlynne Mike AMBER Alert in Indian Country Act of 2018—to protect our Indigenous children. I am endlessly proud of her. Not a day passes that I don’t tell her, “I love you.”
Today, as we remember Ashlynne, we’ll laugh and cry and laugh again, letting the tears fall where they need to. Her light continues to shine through us all—in love, in hope, and in every beautiful memory she left behind.
✨Happy heavenly 21st birthday, my sweet Ashlynne. You are forever loved, forever missed, and forever ours. 💖🦋
Pamela Foster