Margaret “Peggy” Summers was battling stage four kidney cancer and knew there was a good chance she was going to leave her children one day soon. But before she passed away, she wanted to share with them some final words – letters that Hannah and her three siblings could read and re-read as their life went on.
Just hours after she died in an Indiana hospital on October 31, the family found the letters their mother had written them in a dresser of her home.
“If you are reading this then the surgery did not go well,” she began in the letter addressed to Hannah.
“I’m sorry. I tried my best to beat this horrible 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.”
The 18-year-old shared the poignant letter on Twitter this week, melting thousands of people's hearts around the world.
"Before my mum passed she wrote us all letters," she explained. "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 Mumma."
Peggy told her daughter that she wants her to be happy and to "use the gifts God has given you".
"You will be a wonderful nurse just as you are a wonderful person," she wrote.
Her words of advice included urging her daughter to "use your common sense", keep communicating with her dad, and reach out to her friends for support.
"Remember you have a lot of people who love you, so talk to them often."
"Be patient with Dad. This is going to be really hard on him and he will need time.
"You both need to lean on each other and talk a lot."
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Peggy, who was diagnosed in June 2016, reassured her daughter she was still with her and "still just as proud of you as I have always been".
"Hang on to those good memories and tell everyone you love them as often as you can," she wrote as she concluded the letter.
"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!”
Any dry eyes in the house? We didn't think so.