In September 2011 Brenda Schmitz passed away. She was 46 years of age, and a happily married mother of four.
One month before she lost her battle with ovarian cancer, Schmitz wrote a letter addressed to her local radio station in Des Moines, Iowa, and gave it to a friend. She instructed the friend not to send the letter until Brenda’s husband David had fallen in love again after her death.
David recently became engaged, two years after his late wife's passing. On Thursday last, radio station Star 102.5 invited David into the studio as part of their Christmas shows, where they surprise locals at the request of their friends and families. They shared Brenda’s letter with David on air.
"About a week and a half ago, an anonymous letter was sent to Star 102.5 Christmas Wish. We've been granting Christmas Wishes for over 20 years and I've never read a letter like the one I received from Brenda," station manager Scott Allen said. "Everyone, no matter the age, was moved."
Brenda wrote: “When you are in receipt of this letter, I will have already lost my battle to ovarian cancer.”
“I am writing this letter to be sent to you by a dear friend who has instructions to do so when it was the time. I had to type this because I can hardly write anymore because of my shakiness. I told her once my loving husband David had moved on in his life and had met someone to share his life with again, to mail this letter to all of you at the station.”
She said: "My reason for writing is this. I have a wish. I have a wish for David, the boys, and the woman and her family if she has kids also. I want them to know I love them very much."
Brenda’s letter outlined three wishes she had for her family: a day, or better yet a weekend of pampering for David's fiancée ("make her smile, and know that her efforts are truly appreciated from me"); a magical trip for the whole family to create lifelong memories; and recognition for the team of doctors and nurses who took care of her at Mercy Medical Center.
David said it took him some time to take in Brenda's letter, but added that he wasn't shocked by it. "I was surprised, but in a way, I also wasn't. This was Brenda. She had so much forethought before she died. I always love to tell the story. Brenda and I talked before she passed. She told me to meet someone that would love the boys and treat them like her own. I asked her how I'd know when I met that person. Brenda said I would know because she'd be there."
David found love again with mother-of-two Jayne.
The radio station will now send the family of eight to Disney World, with all expenses paid. Jayne, David’s new partner and a mother of two herself said: "We've never taken a family vacation and this will be wonderful.
“It will allow us to create a bond amongst all of us that we haven't necessarily, had a chance to do quite yet. We are always coming and going, so this gives us time to sit back and enjoy each other."
Jayne told the station that Brenda saying she loved her was one of the most moving things she had every experienced, saying: “She said that unconditionally. I always tells David from the first day we met, I talk to Brenda. In my car sometimes we have a conversation about the family and I know she is definitely watching over us."
