Elizabeth Edwards, facing cancer, writing letter to her children

[babylonsister]

http://www.charlotte.com/205/story/146114.html

Elizabeth Edwards, facing cancer, writing letter to her children
The Associated Press

WASHINGTON --
Elizabeth Edwards, the wife of Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards, says she is writing a letter to her children so they will have her guidance after she is no longer with them.

Edwards, who announced in March that her breast cancer had returned in an incurable form, said she came up with the idea 20 years ago after watching the movie "Terms of Endearment," where the mother knew she was dying and wrote to her children.

"So I started writing it then long before I knew, of course, of any cancer," Edwards said. "And it just tells them the things I hope that they'll know about growing up. I know they'd have their father as a great moral guide, but of course, there's no mother who doesn't want to get her two cents in."

Edwards said her advice to her three children - Cate, 25, Emma Claire, 9, and Jack, 7 - include such things as what type of people they should marry and the kind of church they should go to.

"You don't know when your time's going to come and whether you're going to have any warning, and it would be a great idea to pass on the things you thought would be important to them," she said.

more...

[iamjoy]

1. Can I Cry Now?

:cry:

It always makes for the tearjerking scenes in movies, no wonder it would in real life.

[SoCalDem]

3. My young friend who died the week before she turned 33 did something like this

She videoed herself with them.. and on her own, just talking into the camera..

Ashley was 3 and Jacob 7 , when she died.

She also kept a detailed journal to tell them about her life with their dad..how they met, where they went on their first date..

she also bought some savings bonds with specifics to them.. prom dress... car...college..

and she ordered Christmas presents for them , wrapped them and put them away..just in case..(she died in August)..those presents were under the tree for them..:cry:

[iamjoy]

4. That Is So Touching

the savings bonds for prom dress, etc.
Wow.

[babylonsister]

6. Awww, that's so sweet, and so sad she died so young.

:(

[Kagemusha]

2. Last night I read of a woman who did the same - and thieves stole the letters!

She made a public appeal to the thieves to return those letters. How terrible.

This is sad to read but, for the younger children especially, I can totally understand it...

[Missy Vixen]

5. I hope Elizabeth Edwards' children won't be looking at those letters

until she's lived a long and healthy life.

Elizabeth, we've got your back, keep fighting. :hug: We all need you.

Julie

[BrotherBuzz]

7. I share those fine thoughts.

Elizabeth has a wonderful message that needs to be heard, and has a fight worth fighting!

On a side note, I have a friend who wrote letters to his sons that won't be discovered until after his death. He owned some very valuable land that was condemned and purchased by GGNRA (Golden Gate National Recreation Area). He now has a lifetime lease on the property that will be revoked upon his death, and all structures will be removed. He built a extraordinary woodworking shop on the property, understanding it will be torn down and relocated when he dies. While he built it, and knowing the ultimate fate of the structure, he placed notes and letters to his (then) young sons in various joints of the building (post and beam construction). How cool is that?

[EFerrari]

8. Elizabeth Edwards, you make me so happy.

:toast: to you, Lady.

[DesertRat]

9. She starting writing it 20 years ago, for Cate and Wade.

[Norrin Radd]

10. My mom wrote did the same for us.

That was tough reading, when we discovered them.

[greenbriar]

11. there was a movie...sunshine??? she had a tumor and it grew

and during the time before she died, she recorded on cassette tapes advice for her baby


it was really a sad movie

[Kurovski]

12. I just plain love Elizabeth Edwards. (nt)

[NNadir]

13. She appeared on NPR's "Wait, Wait Don't Tell Me."

She was funny as hell.

http://www.npr.org/templates/rundowns/rundown.php?prgId=35

You may enjoy listening to the show. She was answering questions about celebrity rehabs.

Elizabeth Edwards, wife of Democratic presidential candidate, John Edwards, plays a game called, "You're Rich, Famous, and Hoovering the Entire Output of the Cali Cartel Up Your Surgically Altered Nose"; Three questions about treatment centers for celebrities.

[badgerpup]

14. Has anyone seen...

the video monologue Time Flies When You're Alive?

This is just a guy, sitting on stool, talking to a camera and telling the story of how his wife dealt with pregnancy and terminal cancer. At the same time.
It's very simple and funny and heartbreaking and incredible...
:wow::cry::hug: