A bride-to-be from Leicestershire, England, said she was left “in bits” after finding a secret message inscribed on her wedding shoes—a gift from her terminally ill mother who had died two years prior.
Emma Letts was engaged in 2016, one month before her mother was diagnosed with terminal lung cancer. She had hoped her mom would be able to attend the wedding and see her marry fiancé Richard in August 2019, but she passed away tragically in 2017.
But while Emma’s mom wasn’t around to help her plan for the wedding, she made sure she was there in spirit. When Emma was first engaged, she put a deposit down on a custom pair of bridal shoes at a local shop called ‘Lace and Love‘—but, unbeknownst to her—Emma’s mom had paid for them and secretly had a note inscribed on the soles.
“Wanted you to have a gift from me on your wedding day,” reads the note. “Your wedding shoes are my gift to you. Hope you have a magical day. Lots and lots of love and big hugs, mum xxxx”
When Emma went to collect the shoes last week, she discovered the note. “I had absolutely no idea. My fiancé knew about it,” she told the BBC. “It was just an absolute shock. I was just in bits. I couldn’t breathe, I couldn’t talk.”
She added that her mom, after being given just a couple of years to live, had been preparing by writing letters to family members but ran out of time before she could write one to Emma—making the shoe that much more dear. “I didn’t get a letter, she just ran out of time,” said Emma. “So this is special to me.”
Emma shared picture of the shoes to Facebook over the weekend, writing “I cannot stop looking at my beautiful shoes. I am totally in love.”
She told the BBC that she’s been getting lots of supportive messages from people who have also gone through the loss of a parent. “It’s really nice to hear that obviously, what I’m feeling, that other people have gone through it,” she said. “And to know that there are people out there who are planning weddings and not having their mum there.”
h/t BBC