Too Young to Die.

W hen I was in grade school I met a girl who was the sweetest person I'd ever met. I think we were in 1st or 2nd grade. I didn't have many friends. I was the "fat kid" who got made fun of alot. When she moved to our school we instantly became friends. She was so much fun. She always had a smile, she was very funny and fun loving. We always had a great time when we were together. We pretty much spent all of our time together. During the summer between our 4th and 5th grade year she started having a lot of pain in her knee. He mom took her to the doctor and they couldn't really find an explanation. She went to several different doctors until finally they found out she had cancer. I was very young, so I don't know what kind of cancer it was. I just know it was explained to me that the cancer was in her knee and up her leg. Not long after she was diagnosed, they amputated her leg. Once that was done they started her on chemo. While she was on the chemo I didn't see her or talk to her much. I was really scared. I went to her house once and I had to wear a surgical mask because the chemo had weakened her immune system so much. After that I was to scared to visit again. In June, right around the time of her 11th birthday they told her she was in remission. We couldn't be happier!! We spent the whole summer together playing, giggling and being kids. Even after all she had been through she was still upbeat and very happy. The doctors were working on getting her a prosthetic leg and her hair was growing back. In August, she got to go back to school. We were in Jr. high and things couldn't be better. In the beginning of October though, she started getting sick. She couldn't keep anything down, she wasn't having bowel movements. Her doctor took her in for exploratory surgery and found the answers to all of it. The night before we went to go see her, at the hospital,  the phone rang and a few minutes later I went to go see who was on the phone. My mom was sitting at the table crying and I asked her what happened?? Our dog had ran away the week before and she said she just missed our dog. I was young and didn't question it. The next evening my parents took me up to the hospital to go see her. I walked in her room and sat down next to her bed and I knew something was very wrong. She was not her happy, perky self at all. That was when my 11 year old best friend looked at me and said, "Ashley, the doctor says I have three months to live." I was absolutely devastated, I couldn't believe what she was saying to me. A few days later she was sent home and put on hospice. I was at her house, by her side, every other evening. My mom wouldn't let me go every day because she said that Lisa needed time with her family. For a month and a half I savored every moment I had with her. I made sure everyday to tell her I loved her because I was always afraid that day would be the last. She was in so much pain it broke my heart. They tried to give her enough morphine to keep her comfortable, but she was still in pain. She started having problems breathing and they said the cancer had gotten to her lungs. The last night I saw her, I remember she asked her mom how she knew when she was going to die. That night, I made sure to hug her extra tight and I told her I loved her. I had a runny nose and she gave me a handful of Kleenex, but that was Lisa. She was always looking after everyone, even on her death bed. The next night I was in my room listening to Hootie and the Blowfish and working on a project for my music class. My dad walked in my room and asked me to come into the kitchen. He didn't have to tell me anything, I already knew. I knew that God had called her home and from that night forward I would always have an angel watching over me. The night I went to the hospital to see her my mom gave us matching angels, hers said, "I love you." mine said, "I watch over you." To this day that angel sits on my dresser as a reminder that the ones we love are never truly gone as long as we keep them alive in our hearts.