Letters to Kelsea: Life After Death

It’s hard to cope when you know you’re sick…

Tracy Lyn Lawler has experienced tragedy in her life on more than one occasion. The latest event occurred ten years ago and changed her life in a moment. Before that normal, warm summer morning, her life had been good. She had a new husband and her daughter was getting ready to start her final year in high school.

Never did she expect to open her daughter’s bedroom door-alarm sounding off-and not be able to wake her up. And to find out she passed away at the hands of her friend’s mother. This was supposed to be the first day of her senior year. She was supposed to be jumping up out of bed, ecstatic and in anticipation of meeting all her friends at school …

Instead, the very next day, Tracy was picking out a casket for her beautiful 17-year-old daughter. She was trying to find her a final resting place. She was planning a funeral service at the church. She was trying to breathe… .

Tracy began writing her daughter a letter every night right before going to bed. She looked forward to this as it seemed to bring her peace. She wrote about everything she was experiencing: divorce, cancer, losing her job, an arrest, trial and conviction. And, as difficult as it was, she would journal where she had been personally with each passing month.

Tracy died that day with her daughter … yet through these letters and journals, she began to breathe again. With each passing day, month, and year, she learned to experience laughter, happiness, peace, and love again. Instead of living life in black and white, Tracy began to see glimpses of color. Today, she lives life in full color once again.