The cancer was deadly, but not a death sentence. It was a knife; it was not the electric chair. "Always keep moving forward in life, never look back. That way on your death bed you can look back on your life and watch it like a movie, and not get bored" Ashton and Kira are the same in every way except Kira will grow up to become successful adult. While Ashton will die long before she ever gets the chance to become an adult. After a 4 year long battle with cancer Ashton is finally on her death telling Kira everything she has learned in her short 14 years of life that has lasted to long in her opinion.