Coping with the loss of someone you love is the hardest thing in the world. This is no exception to the family of a little girl named Elena Desserich from Cincinnati, Ohio. When Elena was 6 years old in 2006, she was diagnosed with brain cancer and given just nine months to live.
Credit: Notes Left Behind
Knowing that her family would be heartbroken to witness her passing, she decided to do something for them. Before she passed away, she wrote special notes to them and hid them around the house. She hoped that these love notes would comfort them and make the hurt less hurtful.
Credit: Notes Left Behind
Elena passed away in 2007, and she lived 255 days, twice as long as doctors believed she would. After she was gone, her parents, Brooke and Keith, found hundreds of notes to them hidden around the house - in between CD cases, in bookshelves and dresser drawers and even in their backpacks.
Credit: Notes Left Behind
Each note features drawings and heartbreaking messages from Elena – including ‘I love you Mom, Dad and Grace’ and ‘I’m sorry I’m sick’. After reading all notes, the family have framed some of the notes around their home.
Credit: Notes Left Behind
Credit: Notes Left Behind
Fifteen years on, her parents always live with the hurt of losing their little girl, but they find comfort in her messages. And they were able to smile… just a little… through that tremendous pain.
Credit: Notes Left Behind
"It just felt like a little hug from her, like she was telling us she was looking over us."
Credit: Notes Left Behind
Elena's parents have now published her love notes in a book called Notes Left Behind to fund The Cure Starts Now, a non-profit organization that is dedicated to fighting pediatric brain cancer.
Credit: Notes Left Behind
This story broke my heart, and now it's your turn. Please share it with your friends and family members to warm their day up!
h/t: Metro