A Mom With Terminal Cancer Leaves Behind the Most Precious Gift to Her Daughter

A mother's words of encouragement and advice never stop, even after she's gone. When Heather McManamy was diagnosed with stage 4 breast cancer, the Wisconsin mother set out to write her daughter Brianna a letter for every milestone, from her first tooth lost to her wedding day. "Once you're stage 4, there is no cure," she said to WMTV. The terminally ill mom said it was difficult, after writing the letters, to realize all the things she'll be missing in her 4-year-old's life.

One letter reads, "every minute with you, you made me happier than I ever thought I could be."

As Heather's list of treatments come to an end, she said she doesn't mind if her daughter is too sad to open the letters. "I want her to always know that I did everything I could possibly do to be here," she said. Brianna starts kindergarten this year and her mom hopes she can be there to read that milestone letter to Bri herself.