‘Please Don’t Tell My Child I’m In Heaven’ – Kveller
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‘Please Don’t Tell My Child I’m In Heaven’

Heather McManamy recently passed away from metastatic cancer; before she did, she wrote a powerful goodbye letter that has since gone viral. What she says has taken everyone by surprise.

Her husband, Jeff, shared the letter his late wife wrote about how to let their young daughter cope on Facebook. It starts out with as straightforward as it could get: “I have some good news and some bad news. The bad news is, apparently, I’m dead.”

The rest of the letter amazingly follows suit–she bluntly describes how it “sucks beyond words,” but also beautifully recalls all of the support she’s received, writing that her husband is “the love of my life and my best friend.” What’s most notable, however, is what she says to her 4-year-old daughter Brianna:

READ: WATCH: 7-Year-Old Cancer Patient Singing ‘Fight Song’ Will Make You Cry

“Whatever religion brings you comfort, I am happy that you have that. However, respect that we are not religious. Please, please, please do not tell Brianna that I am in heaven. In her mind, that means that I chose to be somewhere else and left her. In reality, I did everything I could to be here with her, as there is nowhere, NOWHERE, I would rather be than with her and Jeff. Please don’t confuse her and let her think for one second that is not true.”

It’s absolutely incredible how McManamy is able to write so frankly about her own death–and even in death, she wants her daughter to know she wants nothing more but to be with her.

She ends the letter with humor and sage advice, stating:

“If you go to my funeral, please run up a bar tab that would make me proud…Please do me a favor and take a few minutes each day to acknowledge the fragile adventure that is this crazy life. Don’t ever forget: every day matters.”

The letter has already been shared about 2,000 times, indicating her honesty is moving people, whether or not they agree with her. Her words give us inspiration that even in hard times, we can find the beauty and happiness in the mundane.

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