Meaningful Moments

I'm Sending You My Love

Write your child a letter soon after they are born. Fill it with your thoughts, hopes, dreams and the experience of bringing a new life into the world. Place your note in an envelope and inscribe, "On the day you were born" on it, and tuck it in a journaling-type book. Each year on your child's birthday, write another letter to her—fill it with the memories, milestones, dreams, events, ideas and the life that you and your family have created throughout the year. When your child grows up and has a place of his or her own, present the book and continue to send the letters on your child's birthday. You will have written a book and told the story of two very special people: you and your child.

If we are really lucky, we have a lifetime with our children to help them grow and teach them and to love them. Sadly, some do not get that chance, but this story shares how we can touch a life in positive, deep ways, even if we are no longer here…

A mother dying of cancer gave a gift to her 7-year-old daughter. She took the time to map out and script letters for all of the future milestones she envisioned missing in her daughter's life—birthdays, graduations, her wedding day and the birth of her children. The idea was that her writings would be given to her daughter throughout her life from the most special woman in her life: her mother. Although she was about to physically say goodbye, this devoted mom was ensuring that she'd continue to live in her daughter's life through these precious expressions of love.