No parent should ever have to experience the death of a young child. Unfortunately Janice Murphy is having to go through just that. Analiese, her daughter, died of a rare chromosomal disorder shortly after being born.
To deal with her grief she’s been documenting the process on a blog to help spread awareness and give hope to other mothers who are forced to go through the same thing.
Recently she visited Disney World with a purple teddy bear that contains her daughter’s ashes. When she came upon the actress who plays the Fairy Godmother, she had a special request.
The Fairy Godmother interacted with the bear just as she would with any other child, and it gave a little bit of solace to Janice, which prompted her to write the sweet woman an open letter.
The letter reads:
To the Fairy Godmother I didn’t know I needed,
You had no idea the young woman that was holding a purple teddy bear was me. I was just another stranger, waiting in line to meet a character at the most magical place on Earth. I was smiling but you didn’t know I spent 10 minutes in tears over the things my daughter will never experience. You had no idea what that purple teddy bear represents to me.
Despite your utter lack of knowledge, you included the bear in our interaction. And when you found out that my daughter died, and that her ashes are within the bear, you treated her the same way you treat every child that comes to see you every single day: with love, compassion and kindness. When you hugged her, and kissed her cheek, you made me feel like Analiese mattered to you.
You may not ever see this, and even if you do, you may not remember us. But I will always remember you, and how you hugged and loved on my daughter as if she was like any other child. You helped me feel her spirit in a place she was never able to visit while alive.
Thank you thank you thank you.
Love,
Analiese’s mommy.
Her beautiful letter has since been shared over 30,000 times, spreading the support all over the internet. Luckily the Fairy Godmother did in fact get to read it, bringing it full circle.
Our hearts are with you, Janice!
