Des
Moines radio station, KSTZ “Star” 102.5 FM has run
a "Christmas Wish" program for over 20 years, but nothing could have
prepared them for Brenda Schmitz's request.
The wife
and mom of four lost her battle with ovarian cancer two years ago, at the age of
46.
“About a
week and half ago we got [her] letter in the mail,” station
brand manager Scott Allen told the Des Moines Register. “We’ve been
doing the Christmas Wish program for 20-plus years.
We’ve never received a wish
like this, ever.”
Brenda
wanted the station to do something wonderful for her husband, David, and their
children, after she was gone.
And so,
David was asked to come into the station to have a wish granted, but was told
nothing further. As the stunned dad attempted to hold back his tears, host
Colleen Kelly started to read his wife's first
letter.
"Hello,
my name is Brenda Schmitz," it begins. "When you are in receipt of this letter,
I will have always lost my battle with ovarian cancer."
Brenda had given specific instruction to a friend, who remains anonymous, to mail her letter to the radio station only when David had found someone new to share his life with.
“I have
a wish for David and the boys and the woman and her family if she has kids
also,” Brenda wrote. “I want them to know I love them very much and they always
feel safe in a world of pain."
Then,
came the wishes. First, Brenda asked that David pamper his new partner, Jane.
“Thank you. I love you, whoever you are," she wrote.
Next,
she asked for a "magical trip" for the family, somewhere were they can "create
those memories that will be with them forever.”
And
finally, Brenda asked that the cancer nurses and doctors in her unit at Mercy
Medical Center be treated to a night out "for all they do every day for the
cancer patients they encounter.”
Incredibly,
due to local sponsors, all three wishes were granted.
"There
wasn’t a dry eye in the room when we got [the letter]," Allen said, according to
the Register. “It really inspired us to do something for her... There was no
question that we were going to do something for this wish. It was what could we
do that would be deserving of Brenda’s name and memory.”
