Chrissy Reflects On Dying Young Woman’s Message

There is a very powerful letter circulating online from a young woman who was dying of cancer. Although most of the words in her message have been said before, this time, for me, it was different. I am not sure why 27 year old Holly Butcher's letter affected me the way it did. Maybe it's the new year, maybe it's the loss of close family members recently to cancer. I am not sure. But what I do know, is that her letter hit me in a way that made me truly reflect on the bigger picture, and how I can make a difference now and live in the now.

One excerpt that stood out to me was this "This year, our family agreed to do no presents and despite the tree looking rather sad and empty (I nearly cracked Christmas Eve!), it was so nice because people didn’t have the pressure of shopping and the effort went into writing a nice card for each other." 

I know the holidays have come and gone, but it reminded me of my family. No matter what the gift is, we always find thoughtful cards for each other and we always spend the time to write something meaningful inside. After reading Holly's words, I cherish those cards much more now.

Another part that struck me was her emphasis on giving. She wrote "...if you can, do a good deed for humanity (and myself) and start regularly donating blood. It will make you feel good with the added bonus of saving lives...Blood donation (more bags than I could keep up with counting) helped keep me alive for an extra year – a year I will be forever grateful that I got to spend it here on Earth with my family, friends and dog. A year I had some of the greatest times of my life."

Now I am putting my fears aside on donating blood and I am going to make a difference. If you would like to donate blood through the American Red Cross, you can find a blood drive here.

Again, I can't explain it, but this letter touched me. Maybe it will have the same affect on you. You can read it in it's entirety here.