A teenager from Indiana shared one of the most personal and precious letters with the world on Nov. 1 and thousands of people found comfort in the selfless and loving message inside.
Hannah Summers lost her mother Peggy Summers to kidney cancer. After her mom passed away, Summers found out that her mom wrote letters to everyone before she departed.
“I wasn’t gonna share this on here, but the more I read it the more I feel like I want to. Mom wrote us all letters before her surgery, thinking things could go wrong. Although she made it through her surgery, she passed 4 months later,” the teen wrote on Facebook.
“It makes me smile because it’s so like mom to be worrying about me getting stranded in my car during the winter or getting overwhelmed with school and work,” Summers wrote. “I’m never going to take this past year and all the memories we made together for granted. I love you momma. So much.”
Heaven gained its most beautiful angel today. I love you mom. Always. Can't wait until I can finally see you again someday. pic.twitter.com/15vTM7Zrxp
— hannah summers (@_hannahsummers) October 31, 2017
The teenager’s letter struck a chord with people who saw it. It was shared more than 92,000 times on Twitter since Nov. 1. After BuzzFeed picked up the story, more and more news outlets started spreading the mom’s last precious message to her daughter.
Thousands of people replied to the posts, expressing their condolences and sharing how the message warmed their hearts.
“I lost my mama last week. You are never ready or old enough to lose your mother,” wrote one woman on Twitter. “So sorry for your loss.”
“My mom passed also & she wrote me a letter exactly a year before just in case,” wrote another woman. “I treasure it daily. So sorry for your loss, stay strong.”
The letter in its entirety is below.
“Hannah, if you are reading this then the surgery did not go well. I’m sorry, I tried my best to beat this terrible disease but I guess God had other things for me to do. Please don’t be mad, bad things happen in life and we have to learn to deal with it no matter how much it hurts.”
“I want you to be happy and use the gifts God has given you. You will be a wonderful nurse just as you are a wonderful person. Study hard in school, don’t worry about a job. If you want to work in the summer fine but you need to really concentrate on school.”
“Be patient with dad, this is going to be hard on him and he will need time. You both need to lean on each other and talk a lot which is not one of our strong points but try and don’t give up. Remember you have a lot of people who love you so talk to them often (Rise, Cassie, Erica, Becky, Michelle, Holly and the twins, etc.)”
before my mom passed she wrote us all letters. this is mine. please hug your parents a little closer and never take them for granted because you never know when you could lose them. I love you momma. ? pic.twitter.com/e2TZtg92bK
— hannah summers (@_hannahsummers) November 1, 2017
“Use your common sense about things like not going anywhere by yourself and having an emergency kit in your car in the winter. If you can carpool to school do it, stay away from parties because they are usually bad, not all boys are bad but most will tell you anything to try and get you to do things, try to hang out with people who have the same beliefs as you because they will make you stronger.”
“Remember that I am still with you and still just as proud of you as I always have been. Keep God in your life and never be ashamed to let others know you love God. If you have kids someday make sure they know how much I love them and wanted to be there to see them.”
“You are going to do great in life and I will be smiling with you through all the important moments in your life. I am thankful God gave us this past year to get closer and spend a lot of quality time together. Hang on to those good memories and tell everyone you love them as often as you can.”
“Enjoy life and live each day as if it is your last because none of us know if today will be the last. And most of all remember that I Love You more than you will ever know! Mom.”
