Love Notes from a 6-Year-Old Cancer Patient
Before her death, Elena Desserich hid hundreds of drawings and notes for her family to find around the house.
Six-year-old Elena Desserich found a tender and inspiring way to let her family know how much she loved them—by leaving notes for them to find long after she had passed away.
Elena was diagnosed with brain cancer at age 5 and doctors told her parents the little girl had only 135 days to live.
Although Elena lost her ability to speak as her illness progressed, that didn't stop her from communicating, as her parents later found out.
Brooke and Keith Desserich found the first of Elena's hidden notes between two books. Others were discovered in sock drawers, backpacks and briefcases.
"It just felt like a little hug from her, like she was telling us she was looking over us even though she wasn't with us," Brooke told the Today show.
Brooke and Keith shared real life stories of their experience with their little angel in an online journal, which they later turned into a book called Notes Left Behind.
All proceeds from sales of the book will go to The Cure Starts Now Foundation, which raises money for pediatric cancer research.
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Read more stories about living with cancer.
Sarah Beldo is a journalist in San Francisco
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