Ashley Plante signed up to care for our daughter this year and we are so grateful that she did. Our daughter had differences affecting multiple organ systems and her case presented unique and novel care challenges. Rather than run from these challenges, Ashley embraced them, while also embracing our daughter as a person and our entire family. Ashley recognized our daughter's need for consistent nursing care due to the complexity of her case and she volunteered to take her on, learn about her, and enhance both her medical care and her quality of life. She also coached and encouraged me as a "medical mom" and taught me many different things, such as how to care for my daughter's g-tube without being afraid. Ashley was responsible for planning a special trip to the healing garden for our daughter and me when we had a random nice weather day in February. This turned out to be our daughter's only time outside in her entire life before she died, and it was the best afternoon I ever got to spend with our daughter as her mom. This is one of my favorite memories of our daughter and I have it thanks to Ashley.

Another favorite memory that we owe to Ashley is the surprise half birthday party that Ashley helped to plan and throw for our daughter in March, which was the second time our daughter was able to meet her brother and that we were able to be together as a family. Ashley truly loved and cared about our daughter and family. She always stopped by to check on her even when she was not assigned to her, and she kept up to speed with everything that was going on with our daughter medically. She treated our daughter like gold, and I always rested easy when I knew that our daughter was with Ashley. I spent the night in our daughter's room before her g-tube placement surgery; Ashley held and rocked our daughter when she cried so that I would be able to get a few hours of sleep. Ashley always kept me well updated when I could not be physically present in the NICU. She was a positive and affirming force in our lives until the very end of our daughter's life, and even after. Our daughter took a surprise turn for the worse in April and passed away. During my daughter's final days, Ashley's insights and counsel were instrumental in helping us come to peace with our decision to transition her to comfort care and set her free. We knew how much Ashley loved our daughter and we were accordingly able to trust her opinions and perspective on our daughter's situation. This provided us great comfort during the devastating end of our daughter's life. These words cannot express our gratitude to Ashley Plante and how much she means to our family. We hope that you will recognize this extraordinary nurse with a daisy.