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'Did you know how much we love you?': Mother reads heartbreaking letter for 4-year-old daughter who died of cancer

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Lindsay Rhoades admitted she wrote the letter while thinking of what she'd say to Kate if she had a chance.

Lindsay Rhoades hoped to raise awareness of pediatric cancer by releasing a video in which she reads a letter to her little girl, who succumbed to cancer at only 4-years-old.

Highlights

By Kenya Sinclair (CALIFORNIA NETWORK)
Catholic Online (https://www.catholic.org)
2/11/2016 (8 years ago)

Published in Marriage & Family

Keywords: Lindsay Rhoades, Kate, cancer, letter

LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - "The day that she passed, I wrote it that morning - after I got back from the hospital," Rhoades told ABC News.

"I read it at her service. I've written letters to Kate for a long stretch of time, but [in] this particular letter I thought about all the things I wanted to say to her if I had the opportunity to say them to her."

Kate was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia in the summer of 2013 and her treatments concluded in September 2015.

Though things were beginning to look up, on January 11, Kate had blood work done, that revealed she relapsed.

Four-year-old Kate passed away at Inova Fairfax Hospital in Falls Church, Virginia, shortly afterward.

"She did so well through treatment and she was perfect, so this was turly the ultimate shock," Rhoades admitted. "It was absolutely the most gut-wrenching [feeling]...There's a lot of guilt wondering if there's something we could've done differently...and utter disbelief because she was our only child and she just started living.

"She was an angel. She was very patient, very gentle, very studious, very, very sweet. She had a big place in her heart for other people that didn't feel well...She was also funny - so, so funny. She wouldn't done big things, I think."

Rhoades admitted she filmed herself voicing the letter she wrote to Kate for the funeral after Mike Gillette, the founder of The Truth 365 - a social media campaign for children fighting cancer - encouraged her to do so.

The letter, in part, reads: 

"Our Dearest, Darling, Kate,

"Did you know how much we love you? How many times a day did we tell you while we kissed your sweet cheek? If you knew even half as much as we hoped you would, then we did our job as your mommy and daddy...We always wanted to be your mommy and daddy, you know. We dreamed about who you would become, what music you would like and who your first crush would be. I was secretly excited to find out who your first boy band would be so that I could pretend to like their music for you.

"We wondered how you would like school. Would you be athletic or studious? Where might you go to college and what would you study? This nightmare of never knowing who you will grow up to be will haunt us for the rest of our lives - forever for, they say.

"Since 4 is the forever we were given, I'd say it was a mighty fine 4, and without even knowing it, we spent the last four months building one heck of a lifetime together.... Kit-Kat, we promise that your life will be remembered for the cheerful, bubbly, way you lived, and that your beautiful spirit will be with us forever."

The video has been viewed over 124,000 times since its posting to The Truth 365's Facebook page.

Rhoades added, "We want to raise awareness for pediatric cancer and ultimately for a cure. When she passed, I promised we will not let it be for nothing. We will do big things in her name."

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