Awesomeness Motivational

Mum Who Died Of Cancer Writes Beautifully Witty and Foul-Mouthed Letter

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Although many of us never knew Heather McManamy during her kickass 36 years, after reading the letter she left, many are left wishing they had. Us, mostly.

Posting her letter to Facebook was one of her final requests when she sadly died of breast cancer. It was aimed mostly at her young daughter, Brianna, and those she loved – but has touched many hearts after going viral.

The post now has over 8,000 shares.

Her letter read:

“I have some good news and some bad news.

The bad news is, apparently, I’m dead. Good news, if you’re reading this, is that you are most definitely not (unless they have wifi in the afterlife).

Yes, this sucks. It sucks beyond words, but I’m just so damn glad I lived a life so full of love, joy and amazing friends. I am lucky to honestly say that I have zero regrets and I spent every ounce of energy I had living life to the fullest. I love you all and thank you for this awesome life.

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.Untitled-5

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. Because, I am not in heaven. I’m here. But no longer in the crappy body that turned against me.

My energy, my love, my laughter, those incredible memories, it’s all here with you. Please don’t think of me with pity or sadness. Smile, knowing that we had a blast together and that time was AMAZING. I f***ing hate making people sad. More than anything, I love making people laugh and smile, so please, rather than dwelling on the tragic terms of endearment end of my story, laugh at the memories we made and the fun we had.

Please tell Brianna stories, so she knows how much I love her and how proud of her I will always be (and make me sound waaay cooler than I am). Because I love nothing more than being her mommy. Nothing.

Every moment with her was a happiness I couldn’t even imagine until she came crashing into our world.Untitled-61

And don’t say I lost to cancer. Because cancer may have taken almost everything from me, but it never took my love or my hope or my joy. It wasn’t a “battle” it was just life, which is often brutally random and unfair, and that’s simply how it goes sometimes. I didn’t lose, dammit. The way I lived for years with cancer is something I consider a pretty big victory. Please remember that.

Most importantly, I was unbelievably lucky to spend over a decade with the love of my life and my best friend, Jeff.

True love and soulmates do exist. Every day was full of hilarity and love with Jeff by my side. He is genuinely the best husband in the universe. Through all my cancer crap, he never wavered when so many people would want to run.

Even on the worst days you could imagine, we found a way to laugh together. I love him more than life itself and I truly believe that a love like that is so special it will live forever.

Time is the most precious thing in this world and to have shared my life for so long with Jeff is something I am incredibly grateful for. I love you, Jeff.

I believe that the awesomeness that is Brianna is our love brought to life, which is pretty beautiful. It absolutely breaks my heart to have to say goodbye.

If it’s half as sad for you as it is for me, it breaks my heart over again because the last thing I ever want to do is make you sad. I hope that with time, you can think of me and smile and laugh, because, holy s** did we have a breathtaking life.”

 

Turns out putting your four year old daughter in charge of your PCA is not necessarily a bad idea #effingmagical

A photo posted by Heather McManamy (@heathermcmanamy) on