My Birthday Wish

Following is the entire text of the story. The words in red represent the personalized information.

My Birthday Wish
was created especially for
Ashlyn Marie Dearing
at the age of 5

Happy 5th Birthday Ashlyn!
Love, Mom and Dad
October 23, 2005

Ashlyn awoke on October 23rd,
and shook the dreams from her head.
"Today is my favorite day of the year.
Today is my birthday!" she said.

Her family came in and said with a grin,
"We know what we should do.
We should have a great big party,
a party just for you."

So Ashlyn made a list of all her friends,
inviting them to come.
They brought over gifts,
and played lots of games,
and everyone was having fun.

Then it was time for the birthday cake,
and Autumn and Megan began to shout.
"Hey Ashlyn, make a wish,
take a deep breath,
and blow all the candles out."

So Ashlyn closed her eyes
and thought to herself,
"Which wish is right for me?
There are so many wishes
from which to choose,
I wish I could wish for three.
But from all the things,
that I've been told,
that's not the way it's done.
So I'll go through my favorite wishes,
and try to pick just one."

"Maybe I'll wish to be an astronaut,
who flies a rocket to Mars.
I'll go in search of unknown worlds,
and sail among the stars."

"Or maybe I'll wish to have a pony,
that lives on a Cordova farm.
He could run in the fields during the day,
then at night he could sleep in the barn."

"But what if the wish that I did choose,
was to be a movie star?
My face could be seen,
on the big picture screen,
and Ashlyn Dearing would be
known near and far."

"Maybe I'll wish to be an explorer,
who travels to lands untold.
There I would find caves and mines,
filled with silver and gold."

"To be a veterinarian,
is the one that I should pick.
I could heal little kittens,
and great big dogs,
or anything else that was sick."

Then suddenly, Autumn and Megan said, "How long are you going to take?
Hurry up and make your wish, Ashlyn,
it's time to eat some cake."
Ashlyn took a deep breath,
then blew really hard,
and all of the candles went out.
Then with big grins, all of her friends
began to cheer and shout.

And as the cake was passed around,
Autumn and Megan leaned over to ask,
"What was the wish that you finally picked?
We know it was a difficult task."

Everyone turned to look at Ashlyn,
She felt her cheeks turn red.
She slowly cleared her throat,
and then stood up and said...
"Although it took a little time,
it was easier than I had guessed.
I know the final wish I wished
was better than all the rest."

"I wished to be just where I am,
right here with all of you,
and when I opened up my eyes,
I saw it had come true."

"And in that wish I also wished,
just to be myself.
Not to be an astronaut,
or a movie star with wealth."

"Because, you see, all those things
could still come true in time,
but for today I have to say,
I like Ashlyn Dearing just fine."

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• Quality, hard-cover personalized children's book
• Washable hard cover
• Fully illustrated color pages
• 36 pages
• Measures 6 3/4" x 8 1/4"