Sometimes in life you meet someone who is so young, so beautiful, so full of life, so positive and so upbeat that they make you feel brighter and more alive simply by being in their presence. Ashlee Lambrix was that sort of person.

Ashlee first came to us 10 years ago as a temporary employee, fresh after graduating from Sonoma State University. On the very first day of her tenure, we were calling for volunteers to help tidy up the back office. This involved lugging fairly heavy file boxes and old office equipment down three stories and out to our storage unit. Naturally, the very first to volunteer was Ashlee — before she really even understood what her job responsibilities were going to be.

Because of her passion and positive “can do” approach to handling just about every task assigned to her, she was quickly transitioned from temporary to full-time employment, and then was quickly promoted to more senior responsibilities, eventually being appointe