Gordon Draper, the owner of Bondgate Books, a second-hand bookstore in Bishop Auckland, County Durham, was sorting a pile of old books when he found a heart-wrenching goodbye letter from a dying mother to her young daughter. The letter had been placed in an envelope and was accompanied in the pages of a book, along with a photograph of the mother and her daughter Bethany.
Gordon said that the book was brought into his store about 15 years ago because he recognized the mother from the photograph. She used to come into his shop and bought a lot of children’s books. She was poor, but she bought lots of books for her dear daughter who was just a little girl.
“She really spoiled her with all the Beatrix Potter set and Paddington Bear books and could not have emphasized more that books meant a lot and she wanted to leave her something – this little girl might still have them,” Gordon said.
Gordon confessed that the letter was so moving that he cried. He was very upset after reading the letter, and he believed that the young girl never looked through it before it was brought in. For this reason, he decided to do what he can to return the precious memento to the girl, named Bethany. Although he knew that little girl was little no more, he and his friend Albert Mark tried to look for her.
“I would like to reunite the letter with Bethany, that would be my wish because it is just so sad,” he said.
You can read the heartbreaking letter in the photos below:
“Bethany (my little treasure), If your dad is reading this to you, it is because I have died and gone to heaven to live with the angels. My chest was very poorly and I had an operation to make it better, but it didn’t work. I will always be in the sky making sure you are all right and watching over you. So when you see a bright star like in the nursery rhyme Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, that’s me. Be a good girl and live a long happy life. Your dad and grandpa will look after you and take you to school. I will always love you and don’t let anyone tell you it’s wrong to talk about me because it’s not. I hope you don’t forget me because I’ll always be your mam. Lots of hugs and kisses. Goodbye.”
Gordon didn’t know how the letter came into his bookstore. However, he thought it could have happened when a book was exchanged for another one, one of the services in his bookshop.
What a touching and heartbreaking letter! If the story touched you, please share it with your friends and family members!
h/t: Hrtwarming