My Sunshine | Excerpt from My Eulogy at Cashleigh’s Memorial Service

Cashleigh was the light of my life, my ace.

I actually cried the entire time I was pregnant with her. I was a single mom and already had three children. I was so worried about how I was going to care for and provide for a fourth.

But when she was born, a calm came over me that I couldn’t explain.

She filled the void I had in my heart from the recent loss of my Dad. Her little life completed our family, giving us strength, comfort, and so much laughter.

As a parent, you’re not supposed to have a favorite. But I always favored Cashleigh. And my other three children felt the same because she was their favorite too. I’ve said many times how incredibly fortunate I was to have been her mother for those 20 years. But trying to imagine being in this world for another 20 without her is unbearable.

The truth is, Cashleigh was too good for this world. She embodied acceptance, empathy, and genuine kindness.

Her heart was pure.

She was an old soul, evident from her childhood. She never did childish, selfish things. She never insisted on having her way; she went with the flow and always wanted what was best for everyone as a whole, not just herself.

Years ago, when Cashleigh was just a little girl, I was walking out of a coffee shop when an odd, little bald man approached me and said he had a message for me.

He told me, rather than asking, that I had a daughter, specifically referring to the younger one I was closest to. He said, “She was your mother in a previous life, and you died as a child.” He went on to tell me that she is here because she wasn’t “done loving you.”

We all have different spiritual and religious beliefs, but my ideology is that our souls are eternally intertwined with certain others.

I believe I’ll see Cashleigh again, and even though she won’t bear the same name and won’t have her same beautiful smile, goofy personality, or distinctive laugh, I’ll recognize her soul.

And I’ll know she’s my person, just like I did when I first saw her in this lifetime.