Remembering a friend

This week on facebook a few of us were discussing spirits/ghosts on my page. I have had so many very strange encounters so I thought I would share one very special event that happened nearly 10 years ago...wow hard to believe it's been that long.

On June 23rd 2000 I lost a dear friend of mine in a car wreck. Eric Ryan Young was one of those people that loved you for YOU!!He was a jack of all trades. One of his many jobs was lawn care. He had built his business up a lot over the years and was well known in the community for his nice neat PERFECTLY straight lines in his grass...lol...I can remember him talking about grass on peoples lots as we drove by them, he would always say "my John Deere could do a better job than that" then laugh at himself.His favorite equipment was John Deere as was his favorite color. We had so many really great times together that I could not even begin to list them. The day that Eric died was like a dream actually probably from that day and the two weeks following that day were a dream. I can remember being at my sisters house and my friend Tiffany knocking on the door. When I opened it her facial expressions was all I needed to see to tell something was wrong. When she told me my heart just broke in to a million pieces. I can remember the funeral home being so full of people those few days that there was at least an hour wait at times to get through the doors. I can still picture him lying there and just waiting for him to sit up and say something...How I wish I could have gotten one of his lawn care shirts he was working on getting...I knew in my heart that Eric was in heaven and watching us.But what happened two months later is what really gave me peace of mind.

In August my friend Kristen and I were working a booth for my sister at the southern ky fair in Bowling Green. We were extremely bored with the whole thing and we were actually about to pack up things when this man approached our table. (bear with me as I try to explain this for all to understand)do you know how when you walk into a store to get only one thing and you know exactly where you are going so rush in and rush out with your mind focused on that one thing??? Well, that is how this man was. When he walked into the building he was starring straight at us with a smile on his face. As he walked through the doors until he reached our table he never stopped starring at us. This strange feeling came over me immediately... When he got to our table/booth he said "Hello,I was just wondering if I could leave some brochures on your table to help advertise my lawn care business" of course I said yes and so he said that he would bring them back tomorrow night. He then handed me his business card, shook my hand and said "thank you, Ashley" and walked away...I HAD NEVER MET THIS MAN BEFORE IN MY LIFE!!(nor was I wearing a name tag) I stood there for the longest time (or at least it felt that way) just holding his card in my hands and wanting so bad to stop the man but I couldn't speak I was shocked...Then I looked down only to find the card to be a John Deere color with a golden angel printed on it playing the trumpet. I lost it...I began to cry..I just could not understand the small things that I kept thinking about..like, why would you have that printed on your "lawn care" business card? Why would you choose our booth to advertise on when you could have used the front tables closer to the entrance to get better views? I looked at Kristen cause she too had been handed the business card and she too was crying...We did not even pack up our table we just left. When I returned the next day anxiously awaiting the arrival of this man so I could ask questions I soon learned that I would have lots of unanswered questions....HE NEVER RETURNED...

Now I am sure some of you are probably thinking no big deal just a fluke thing. And that is fine you can believe what ever you like and I will continue to believe that this was meant to happen for a reason. I got peace in my heart that night....I tucked that business card away into my boxes full of memories and decided that I would never EVER let it be lost. While discussing this on facebook the other day Laurie told me that I had never shared this story with her nor had I ever showed her the card...which is very strange..so I scanned it in today and emailed it to her, along with a poem I wrote one day while sitting at the gravesite. (I did that a lot the weeks following his death).

Please DO NOT try calling the number on this card...lol...I do not want to know if it is real or not...I want it left the way it is so I can always have that peace in my heart....I believe it was Eric's way to tell me "hey fivel" (which was his nick name for me, it use to make me sooo mad...lol) I am where I need to be and I will always be in your heart....