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A terminally ill mother has revealed the moving letters she’s writing to her one-year-old daughter to read one day.
Sophie George (27), from Essex in England, was told she only had 18 months to live after being diagnosed with stage-our brain cancer in February.
The devastated 27-year-old says the hardest thing is knowing she won’t be around for her daughter, Marcie Godfrey.
The mom-of-one is writing letters for the day her little girl starts school, her first heartbreak, when she ties the knot and every birthday.
“I’m telling her I’ll always be watching over her and keeping her safe,” Sophie says.
“They’ll be for those times when she needs her mom and so that she’s got something of me to keep my memory alive. They’re for those moments when she would maybe be talking to her mom.
“Marcie’s my life. She’s an energetic ball of fun who makes people laugh with her funny, cheeky character.”
Sophie hopes the letters will bring comfort to her daughter at key moments in her life.
“My darling Marcie,” the heartbroken mom starts off one of the letters, “Today’s your first day of big school and even though Mommy isn’t there to hold your hand or kiss you goodbye as you go into your class, I’ll be watching over you and keeping you safe.
“There’s a tissue in your school bag that daddy has sprayed with Mommy’s smell so if you get scared, just give it a smell to remind you of Mommy and that everything will be okay.
“Some children might not be very nice to you and you might get sad by that. But don’t worry, Mommy will always love you very much.
“Whenever you feel sad give your ‘mommy’ teddy’s hand a squeeze to hear my voice.”
The full-time mom and Marcie’s dad, Jay Godfrey (28), have been together for four and a half years after meeting on Facebook.
The in-love couple are planning their dream wedding after Sophie popped the big question to Jay, who’s a builder, the day after her devastating diagnosis.
“I want to make the best of the time I’ve got left with Marcie and Jay so we’re getting married in September,” Sophie said.
“We’d spoken about marriage before but we weren’t engaged. I thought, ‘we’ve got to do it’. It seemed right. I want us to be husband and wife.”
Sophie started experiencing headaches in January and by February they became worse, even waking her up at night.
“It was for 24 hours a day for about three weeks,” she said. “It was like a shooting pain all over my head. I was taking strong painkillers but they wouldn’t touch it.
“Jay’s mom took me to opticians but I was being sick and couldn’t speak. I went to a hospital to see if I could have a scan and they told me it didn’t warrant one so they sent me away with some painkillers.
“That was on a Thursday and by the Sunday I couldn’t see or speak so we went back to the hospital.
“I had an MRI scan which revealed I had a 4,5cm tumour on the left frontal lobe.”
Sophie was relieved that she’d finally been diagnosed but was devastated when she heard it was terminal cancer.
“You don’t think it’s going to be cancer. I remember thinking it would be fine. I thought they’d remove it and it would be okay. I never thought for one minute it would be what it was.
“They said they couldn’t say how long I have left but the average is 18 months.”
Sophie is undergoing chemotherapy in an attempt to prolong her life.
“Marcie’s too young to understand what’s happening. I have a hairpiece so she doesn’t notice that I look any different.
“At the moment I feel fine. I’ve not had any headaches. They’ve told me towards the end I may start to lose my memory and that scares me – that my daughter will see me like that and that maybe I won’t remember who she is.
“I’m trying to be as positive as I can and taking each day as it comes. I’m trying to prolong my life for as long as I can.
“We’re looking at other options in Germany but it’s very expensive so I’m not sure how realistic that is,” she says.
Sophie and her fiancé are planning plenty of trips together to make memories with Marcie while they can.
“I know Marcie will be fine. She’s going to be so well looked after by her dad and we’ve got a big family who loves her to bits.
“Jay’s been my rock ever since I met him. He’s looked after me and gone above and beyond to make me happy.
“Seeing him with Marcie and the way he looks at her with so much love . . . It makes me feel warm inside as I know she will always be looked after.”
Source: Magazine Features
Pictures: Magazine Features
