To let his baby daughter know that she’ll always be loved even after his death, an ailing father in Taiwan hatched a touching plan.
He decided to write her a letter for every birthday he would miss, until she turned 20.
Pictures of these 19 letters were posted on Facebook by her mother, Ms Bella Chu, on Monday (7 Oct).
Here’s the heartfelt post in traditional Chinese. We translate it after the jump.
English Transcript:
My daughter was born in Jan 2005, and her father passed away in May 2006 due to liver cancer. She was only 1 year and 4 months old.
In his last month of battling his illness, my husband persevered despite his ailing body. He wrote every letter by hand painstakingly, each containing his hopes & well-wishes for our daughter.
My daughter will turn 20 in 2025, and I’ve been keeping these letters for her since her 2nd birthday in 2007.
When she’s older, I hope to hand all of the letters to her.
My daughter is now in Form 3, and children with no fathers tend to grow up early. She’ll be heading to school more often and I’ll be going to the other side to make a living.
When dawn breaks, I’ll be leaving. These are all the letters I’ve been guarding secretly for you. I’ve never once thought of opening a single one. This is what your father has left for you, heartfelt and intimate words meant for your eyes only.
I hope you’ll read it well, and you’ll carry his words in your heart forever.
From the post, we gather that Ms Chu’s husband knew he was stricken with liver cancer before his daughter was born in 2005.
As his condition took a turn for the worse, he decided to plan ahead for his daughter’s future birthdays — all of which he would miss.
In the final month of his battle with cancer, he penned 19 letters — one for each birthday till his daughter turned 20 in 2025.
Ms Chu recounts that he mustered the energy despite his ailing condition to write each letter by hand.
He passed away soon after, leaving Ms Chu to raise her 1-year & 4-month-old baby daughter by herself in Taiwan.
Ms Chu shares that she’s been keeping the letters a secret from her daughter since her 2nd birthday in 2007.
She hopes to hand them over to her daughter when she’s older.
As her daughter grows steadily day by day, Ms Chu reflects that she’s observed that children who are missing a parent tend to “grow up early”.
Bella has plans to make a living elsewhere too. So before her daughter reaches adulthood, the single mum hopes that she’ll read them well.
Bella muses pensively that she’s never opened a single letter,
These are all the letters I’ve been guarding secretly for you. I’ve never once thought of opening a single one.
That’s because the letters are what Ms Chu’s husband has left for his daughter — heartfelt and intimate words meant for her eyes only.
Ms Chu then addresses her daughter directly, in the hopes that she’ll read the letters one day and continue to carry his words in her heart forever.
In this tragic tale of lost opportunities and stolen time, we’re glad that this father found the courage to confront his own impending death.
What resulted was a meaningful act borne out of his love and hope for his daughter.
Death can serve to give life new meaning and to mark the birth of hope for the next generation.
May Ms Chu’s daughter continue to grow up well. We can’t wait for the day she fully understands how her father has been there for her, every step of the way.
Featured image adapted from Facebook.
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