My letter would be to my cousin Joey, who was murdered by his wife and her boyfriend back in 2000. I'm glad we went on that cruise to the Bahamas, I'm proud that you were more like a brother to me, I miss you alot dude, and just wish you would of listened when we all told you to stay away from that wicked evil wife of yours. Say hi to my aunt Lisa, Frankie C., and my dog Jenny. I'm still not married and still attracted to losers. Maybe you can pull a few strings with the big guy?(wink-wink) Love ya buddy always and forever, Gina

My father started hospice care in December 06 and died on March 14th, 2007. We were never able to really talk while he was alive, and I mostly wrote letters to him. Before he died, he told me where to find all the letters and emails I had written to him since 1977 when my parents divorced. There are so many things I wish I could have said to him when he was alive that I never said in a letter because I just never imagined my life without him. I've struggled with my grief over losing him since March, and in January, on what would have been his 71st birthday, I plan on writing a letter to him saying all the things we never really talked about. In spite of the emotional distance between us, I always loved spending time with him, even when there was nothing said. I see his smile now everywhere I look, hear his laughter, and feel that I'm closer to him now than I ever was before.

My letter would be to my mom who died suddenly in June telling her what a gap has been left in my life without her, how much I miss her and hearing her voice and how much I love her!

I would probably write a letter to my ex-husband. I do not love him now. But I do love the man he use to be. I will forever mourn the loss our family suffers each day because we are not a whole family.

I actually did that. I thanked him for breaking up with me. Because he did that, I became the person I was, who is a much better person that the unconfident, needy, fearful woman I was when I was with him -- and he did nothing to make me feel otherwise.

My precious grandson,
I loved you from the moment I heard you were on the way. What a blessing it was to be with your Momma when she had her first ultrasound. Words cannot describe the devastation I felt when we learned at 20 weeks you would not be able to survive.
Through God's grace, your Momma was given 37 weeks of the blessing of holding you inside her. My prayers were answered, and she was able to hear your cries at birth. But God called you home within the hour. You are forever loved and missed, and there is not one single day--sometimes not even one single moment--that I do not think of you and tell you I love you. I hope you hear me in Heaven.
I am so anxious to join you there that sometimes I cannot bear to live. But you taught us through your short life here what life really means, and that we must go on, in order to give honor to you, and meaning to our lives.
Until I get to hold you in my arms again in Heaven, I hold you in my heart. You are wrapped deeply within it.
Forever...Grandmama

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Dearest Kelly,the love of my liife for over 18 years
I miss you terribly and both Jeana and I feel that you are up in heaven with God, watcing us. She has grown like a weed now weighs 12 pounds, she acts more like a spoiled child everyday, she sleeps in the bed instead of on the couch. She remembers how you use to make her come to bed with me. She is a wild thing. I didnt get to take her t the Bahamas becasue I didn't get the clearance needed, hopefully both of us can go this year for 2 weeks.
Kelly you will always be irreplaceable in my heart. I say this to you " If Tears Coold Build A Stairway, And Memories A Lane, I'd Walk Right Up To Heaven And Bring You home Again. Author Unknown.

Jeana and I nly have each other since you left us, seems tht everyone else left us soon after your death, but we know that you & our Heavenly Father is still with us everyday. Lou has promised to take her if aything should happen to me so he will be the beneficiary of Jeana and all our possessions. I want to always remember you and sometimes catch myself talking to you and of course as you always said if you died before me you would always be around and believe me I have felt your presence sometimes buzzing around my head while I wash dishes and cook other times feel the bed matress movins as if you're turning over or getting in or out of bed. Please continue to visit use, Jeana seesa nd experience your spirit as well. Darling as usual its early morning and I haven't been to bed. We love you dearly and always will. We shall meet again in the bye & bye. Love forever, Your Heart Throb Wife, Woman, Lover & Friend and KItty Cat, Queen Jeana, your little spoiled rotten baby girl. We love & miss you.

Jen & Jeana

Kelly, Jeana & I miss you more & more with each passing day. You will always be in our hearts. I thank God for the many years he allowed us to be toghether and the good times as well as the bad times has made me a stronger woman. I alway feel that life was good to both of us and we were blessed to share jeana for over 2 & half years,she would have turned three the week of your untimely death. She still looks out for you & misses you as much as I do. She took your death so hard, until I thought I was also going to lose her

This is my actual letter to my boyfriend Ian after he died on May 10, 2004.
Ian,
I love you, I will always love you. You are my life. I need you. You weren't supposed to leave me. There were days that I wished that i never met you, but there were so many more that i was thankful that i had you. I don't know if you'll ever know how much I love you. I want you to know that no matter what you did- i forgave you. No matter how you behaved- i forgave you. i would give my life to have you here one more day. In death, you have to know that everyone forgives. I know that you didn't know that in life. I hope you see the love and i hopw that finally puts you at peace.
love always and forever,
laura

When visiting my parents this summer, my mom passed away unexpectedly. So I thought. When I was there in April with them she had given me one of my grandmother's rings and told me she wanted me to have her wedding set. If I were to write her a letter today, I would have to ask her if she knew God was calling her home. How did she know to tell me she wanted me to have her wedding set in April. Also while there and helping my dad sort through her belongings I discovered just how much of a private person she was. I learned that it was not my dad from whom I got the bi-polar type II gene from, but from my mom. I would tell her how sorry I am I did not see the signs or symptons. Especially over these last 2 years while I had begun getting help. That is how private she was. I would want her to know how much I love her, still even more with each passing day. I would also try to help her to understand I know how much of a lonely world it must have been, even with all of us around her telling her we love her. I would also let her know I understand how she was not able to say anything b/c of the era she was brought up in and how she was raised. I would just keep reassurring her I love her and I will continue to keep her memory alive and be her voice.

Mom,

Hard to believe it's almost been 5 years, it's been a long 5 years and it's a shame you had to go a few weeks after my only baby was born. You were really strong Mom, but I wasn't. I didn't know what to say to you anymore. I ran away, and people around me told me not to hate myself, to worry about my unborn child, but I think if I had paid more attention to YOU, I wouldn't feel the pain I feel today. I'm sorry. I don't know if you heard me and Fitzy on that Thanksgiving morning, the last day I ever saw you alive, if that's what you want to call it. I hope you saw that picture of Damien, he's beautiful and he came when I needed him most.

Your mistakes are irrelevant now. Your strength is something I envy, as I don't really have much left. Fitzy talks about you often, the memories, but I don't find comfort in memories, I find regret. Things are tough now, but I'll make it. You'd be so disappointed in me, BUT thanks to your ordeal and the importance of my son I did quit smoking. Dad has been having his own problems so I don't want to burden him. Your grandson has autism, it's not severe, but I worry about what the future holds. He's a sweet boy, I wouldn't change the way he is for anything, because that's him, that's who I love. I loved you, but I didn't realize then that your flaws were insignificant, they were just YOU.

I wish I could say that I think you're in a better place, but I don't believe in that. I'm glad your pain is over though, and the time you did spend here will be missed. Death is so final, and I will always miss you. I'm glad you can't see me cry.

Jennifer

P.S. Why didn't you tell me I had a sister?

Dear Keith-
I know we have never meet, but I feel like I know you and in a way, I do because I married your son. I want to thank you for contributing to the amazing person he is and has become. He wouldn't be the man I love without the pieces of you he has taken with him. Even though he was young when you died, he still does things just like you (according to his Mom:) like his love for nature, having a clean kitchen, and writing notes on his maps in the margins. You two even have the same handwriting. I know Drew misses you and I miss not having the privilege to have known you, but in my heart I feel like you are always there with us.
Love your daughter in law,
Jamie

Dear Grama Amy,
I haven't taken to time to talk to you in a long time but found my self thinkin gof you a lot this weekend. We were talking about ghosts and I remembered back to the time I thought I saw you in the grocery store a year after you passed. I was living in a new town and you had been gone for quite some time, but you were there all the same, you face, your build, your purse, your smell....
I'll never forget the time we had lunch with Dana and Corrine a week before you died. You looked great, a lot better than I had thought you would. Though Dana and Corrine were with us (I know they weren't your favorites) and although you were very sick, you made the day about spending time with me. I wish I had told you that you were the glue to our family. You were what held us together. Even as a child I didn't like having to visit dad with out mom there. But I knew that if I went to see him, I got to see you. You were the driving force that brought me there, that made me feel whole in an otherwise broken family. When we lost you, the family fell apart. I haven't spoken to dad in 2 years. I almost wish that you were here to help facilitate it.
I really miss the way you would let me make shirley temples when I came to visit. You would laugh at me and the amount of grenadine I would put in my drink. I loved how you kept the ingredients in that old fashioned ice box, along with the adult beverages. I felt so grown up! I also really miss the way you smelled. After you died and we were cleaning out your house, I found a bottle of your perfume, but it wasn't the same. I think it was the mix of the scent, dinner and cigarette smoke. I have only smelled that scent in my memories, it was so comforting when I would hug you and breath you in. Those were the times I knew I was safe.
You will never believe this bt dad got married again. Jamy told me that he called her a week or so ago and mentioned something about our step mother. Since he and Corrine had that nasty divorce we though he was confused but it turns out he had a simple ceremony with only friends, not even his children.
If you were still here I am sure you would be off golfong with the ladies, it is a gorgeous day today. If not that, you would be at the 'club' playing bridge or off chasing a game in Reno or Vegas!
I really miss you gram. It has been 12 years, but I miss you more every day. Mom's parents are still around and they now have great grand children, something you never got to enjoy. I miss you very much and wish we had a few more moments to share many things we have in common now that I am grown.
All my love,
Krissy

Connie,
I love you and miss calling you just to catch up. You were the world's best sister. I always appreciated the way you made everyone feel important to you. I am so happy that you never held back telling exactly how important your family was to you. We all wish you were physically here with us. I wish your kids could have become adults with you on this earth. But you raised such strong, beautiful souls that if anyone's children can move forward, it's your kids. I told someone the other day that even before you died, I'd cry when I would speak of you, because I was so proud to have a sister with the amazing stamina and determination to overcome adversity. Please send all of your energies to guide the kids and give them the answers to questions they're going to have in facing life's ups and downs. I will do whatever I can to help them along. I know that you're spirit is with us and that gives me comfort. I love you and keep showing up in my dreams, it's always so good to see you.
Love, Mary Jo

Mom,
I miss you. I feel like 23 years of knowing you was a blessing, but I still feel like I was robbed. I miss talking to you everyday on the way to work. I miss Sunday dinners. I wish I could have your brownies one last time. I miss your face, perfume, laugh, and courage. I love you more than I ever thought a child could love her mother. You were my best friend. I never told you that I always wanted to be just like you: loving, funny, courageous, beautiful, smart, humble, and strong. I will live the rest of my life trying to live up to the wonderful example of how an adult woman should be. I miss you so much. I can't wait until I get to see you again one day. Put in a good word for me with the big guy. Love, Ree

Grandma,

I've missed you a lot over the past 10 months. I remember how dad used to call you every Sunday afternoon and we would all get a chance to talk to you, like playing a quick game of "catch up."
On December 4th I came to see you for the last time. You and I both knew we were saying goodbye. You told me to just be myself, and to be sure to find a good man that will take care of me and cherish me forever. You'll never believe this, but I found that man who is doing just that.
Remember the time we played Skip-Bo for the first time (I think I was about ten) and you didn't let me win, EVER. I'll never forget playing cards with you.
I miss walking into your home and smelling your perfume as soon as I hugged you. I miss walking into your room and seeing the solitaire cards on the table and the tv on for the Phillies game.
My goal grandma is to make you proud, and I wish I'd told you that I want to be like you when I grow up.

My little brother Mike. There hasn't been a day that you are not missed. I really miss my morning honks, that was what I looked forward to every morning. I know you are in good place. But we really would rather have you home with us. It hurts to miss you, and see how it hurts the rest of the family. I know you didn't plan to leave us all this soon, but you did bring the family together again. WE LOVE YOU ALWAYS! Their isn't a one of us looking forward to the holidays, because you won't have you laugh around. I just miss my little brother. and I want you home with mom and dad. miss you..

I would tell them I was sorry for making it look as if they were a hinderance in my life. I would also tell them I love them and I will see them again one day.