Family Letter Writing in Terminal Cancer

Abstract

In this article, I examine relational dynamics within a family who exchange letters after the experience of terminal cancer. The collected letters of a terminally ill husband and father to his children are presented as documents for growth. The letters are explored as a meaning making narrative of a family affected by loss and uncharted territory. As a participant researcher, I composed a letter to my husband 2 years after his death using autoethnography as a method of inquiry. Our children also created letters for their father 2 years after his death. Intentional references are made to the transformative value of letters as narrations of reflections, anxieties, and paradigm shifts. The value of family letter writing within terminal cancer is offered as collaboration, connection despite death, and re/writing a future with a loving regard for shared stories.