by James Glaser
September 18, 2004

Some jobs are fun and some jobs are hard, but it is very seldom that you can say that a job is an honor. I have a job this week which will be a real honor to do. It will be hard, it will be emotional, and I think it will be very rewarding.

A woman called me out of the blue asking me if I would help her write six love letters to her children. I told her that I wasn't really into children's love letters, but I would give her some pointers over the phone if she liked. She explained to me that she is dying of cancer, she is a 36 year old single mother with three children, and she wanted each to have a letter from her at graduation from high school and one when they got married.

What could I say? The whole idea of doing this all of a sudden became something very special and I felt honored that she would ask me. When I got off the phone I started to think about how I was going to do this and then it hit me what a big job this will be.

Something like this is a one time shot and you have to get it right. I am hoping that this woman will be able to give me enough of herself, so that these are really her letters and I am only putting her thoughts and love into the words she might have chosen herself.

I am thinking that I will spend a day talking to her, making notes, and asking lots of questions. I guess the most important one is what is she trying to do with these letters? I will then sit down and do some heavy thinking about how I would write this to my own children.

She said she had a computer, so I will be able to sit at the keyboard and write out each letter as she talks to me. I told her that these have to be her letters and I would only be putting her words, thoughts, and love into a coherent form that had her personality show through.

This is going to be hard, it is not going to be fun, but I think I will feel good about it when we are done. I never thought or even imagined I would ever have a job like this, but now that the initial shock is over, I am looking forward to doing it.

If anyone has ever done this before and wants to give me a pointer, I would appreciate it.