New mom left emotional after discovering letter her late mother wrote 10 years ago for this very day

Mothers are the ultimate epitome of selfless love, and Shannon Cheesman (@shannonn.cc) realized it only when she welcomed her first child. Losing her mom at 12 had clearly left her devastated. She grew up missing her at every milestone, whether it was getting married or having a baby. Somewhere, Cheesman's mom, who lost her life to cancer, knew how much her absence would disturb her children. So, before dying, she left 3 letters for each of her kids to open on "big milestone days." On August 11, Cheesman shared her final letter from Mom, which she opened after she had her daughter.

In a TikTok video, she placed the letter beside her newborn baby in her lap, and wrote, "What an honor & blessing to have known a mother's love like hers." Cheesman was only 2 when her mom was diagnosed with cancer. After treatment, she went into remission, but her cancer returned when Cheesman was 10. This time, it was pretty aggressive, and no treatment could stop the disease from spreading. Her condition worsened with time, and the doctors confirmed that her mom had very little time left. Cheesman said her mom was heartbroken because she realized she wouldn't get to experience her children's milestones. "She was just trying to think of ways that she could still get to experience it, in a way. And so she and my oldest sister sat down in her final days, and they just cranked out three letters for each kid," the daughter told PEOPLE. For Cheesman, her mom had written letters for her high school graduation, wedding, and the birth of her first child. Over a week after she delivered her child, she finally decided to read the letter. It was obviously emotional, but Cheesman was surprised to see just how her mom, in all her letters, was specific about what was needed at that time.

"It truly felt like she was just sitting in the room talking to me again, which is all that my heart has been wanting in this season, to get to sit down and talk with her. There's been such a sweet experience to get to read that, and I've opened it several times since, and just read it over and over and over again, because every time I feel like I get a new perspective on it when I read it," Cheesman confessed. A woman's relationship with her mom changes when she welcomes a child herself. In fact, a study (Sheeran, Jones & Welch, 2015) found that new motherhood involves significant transitions for many women. One of the many transitions is their own relationship with their moms, which achieves a whole new level of importance. While Cheesman never got to witness that transition, her perspective about her mom and her love definitely changed after having a baby. 

Meanwhile, Shannon's video received an overwhelming response on TikTok, leaving netizens teary-eyed. For instance, @erikaa.248 commented, "My husband’s mom did this too, and it was incredibly sweet to read her words while he held our first baby. But also so, so bittersweet knowing that those were the final words he would read from her."

Similarly, @justjessingya shared, "This is so special. My mom passed away unexpectedly before I had kids, so I’ve just had to close my eyes and imagine what she would have written to me in these times." @__karenkaye wrote, "My kidneys failed at a young age, and I had to start dialysis. My daughter was only 3 at the time. I made her an email address and started making videos and sending them to that email, just in case. I made videos for all her big occasions in life and videos of just me, talking about myself, my childhood, my family (my parents also passed away before meeting her), and about me and my husband's story. The best thing I ever did for her. I miss my mom so much, and I know she’ll just cherish these forever."

You can follow Shannon (@shannonn.cc) on TikTok for parenting content. 

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