Mother writes one last letter to her daughter before dying from kidney cancer
Before Hannah Summers' mother passed on Tuesday, she wrote her daughter a letter to bring her comfort -- and now it's doing the same for strangers around the world.
Summers posted on Facebook that her mother, Peggy Summers, had finally succumbed to kidney cancer after months of fighting with ongoing treatment and surgery. According to her obituary, her mother worked as a paraprofessional at a high school in Indiana before she died at age 55.
But before her mother died, she penned a handful of letters to each of her children back in June, prior to undergoing surgery -- and Hannah just discovered hers.
Click through photos Hannah shared of her mother:
Her mother began the letter: "If you are reading this then the surgery did not go well."
"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," she continued.
"Remember that I am still with you and still just as proud of you as I always have been."
The more Hannah Summers read the letter, she wrote, the more she became comforted by her mother's last words of advice and encouragement.
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So she shared them with the world.
"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," she tweeted Wednesday.
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
Her post has since gone viral, generating nearly 300,000 likes in the past two days and an outpour of responses from thousands who were comforted by her mother's last words.
Been holding this tweet for hours bc I didn't know what to say. I just realized there's nothing I can say. I'm just going to start doing. ??
— . (@dfreshmode) November 2, 2017
???? but seriously don’t be too cool to tell your parents or anyone you love them or not be there for them. Life is too short. https://t.co/GQoQVO7RhI
— Lights Out (@Stotler_) November 1, 2017
Hi Hanna I dnt know u, but from reading this your Mom told the?? more than enough. WE believe in u & your family is in my prayers???? God bless
— Quael ???? (@YoungQuael) November 2, 2017
See more reactions here:
In the letter, her mother also writes that she knows how "wonderful" of a nurse her daughter will become and even fusses a bit -- much like any mother -- about her studies. She also advises her to finally get an emergency kit in her car and gives her a little advice about boys too.
"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," her daughter wrote on Facebook.
"I am still with you and still just as proud of you as I always have been," her mother wrote. "You are going to do great in life and I will be smiling with you through all the important moments in your life. Enjoy life and live each day as if it is your last because none of us know if today will be the last."