When someone you love tells you they have cancer it’s hard to know the right thing to say. We struggle to sound supportive and give them hope, without pretending it isn’t a big deal. Cancer survivor Emily McDowell knows this struggle all too well. At only 24 Emily was diagnosed with Stage 3 Hodgkin’s lymphoma . She went through 9 months of chemo and radiation before she went into remission.
“The most difficult part of my illness wasn’t losing my hair, or being erroneously called ‘sir’ by Starbucks baristas, or sickness from chemo. It was the loneliness and isolation I felt when many of my close friends and family members disappeared because they didn’t know what to say, or said the absolute wrong thing without realizing it,” Emily explained on her website.
So she decided to do something about it. And Emily began designing empathy cards specifically for people battling serious illnesses. She filled them with the words she needed to hear when she was battling, the words she wished someone knew they should be saying.
“I want the recipients of these cards to feel seen, understood, and loved,” Emily writes.
And we’ve got to say, they are beautiful. Just check them out.
Thank you Emily. Thank you from those of us who don’t know exactly what to say. And thank you from those of us who desperately need to hear these words of love and support! Never forget, sometimes all you need to say is, ‘I love you.’
If you want to purchase any of these amazing cards just click on the picture or head to Emily’s website!
credit: Emily McDowell
