Ashley Faye Derks

Yesterday, I found out that the world has lost a very dear friend of mine. Ashley Derks was an amazing person. She was always there for the ones she loved and would do anything to help them. Ashley gave so much of herself and touched so many hearts. She made the world around her smile with her bubbly personality and warm spirit.

Despite her bad decisions, Ashley made the world a better place. It was my privilege in life to be her friend and help her overcome a past of poor choices. The three years I spent with her will never leave me. I will forever hold close our memories together. I am proud not only of who she was as a person, I am proud to have called her my friend.

Ashley worked very hard to turn her life around. It was never her failure or success that made me love her, it was her spirit. She had one of the strongest and most persevering spirits I have ever known. As I sit here, overcome by grief, I can’t help but to hear her whispering in my ear “just keep swimming, swimming, swimming. What do we do, we SWIM!”

Thank you Ashley for the gift of friendship you bestowed on me. You will never be forgotten and the place you hold in my heart will never go away. I love you



In Loving Memory of
Ashley Faye Derks
September 4, 1985 - August 18, 2009