Brenda Schmitz knew she didn’t have much time left.
On August 3, 2011, in Des Moines, Iowa, this mother of four wrote a letter to radio station Star 102.5, which had been granting its listeners’ Christmas wishes for more than 20 years. She had ovarian cancer and only two months to live. She gave it to a friend with one instruction: send it only when her husband David had fallen in love again.
Brenda died in September 2011, at the age of 46. Two years later, David proposed to Jayne Abraham. And the friend kept her promise.
The station invited him onto its Christmas show without telling him why. He had been told it was something too personal to explain over the phone. On air, they read the letter, which began: ‘When you receive this letter, I will already have lost my battle with ovarian cancer’.
She asked for three wishes. One was a weekend of pampering for David’s new partner, whom she thanked for loving her children as her own. She ended the letter with a phrase: ‘I love you, whoever you are.’ Another was a magical trip for the family of eight. The third was a night of celebration for the doctors who cared for her.
‘There wasn’t a dry eye in the room,’ recalled radio station manager Scott Allen.
Some people, even as they say goodbye, keep thinking about the happiness of others.