A little girl is heartbroken for her late twin sister who thinks she may be feeling lonely, so she brings her favorite toy to her sister’s grave to keep her company and finds a letter there addressed to her.
Little Bella was heartbroken after her mommy Linda and sister Lia died. Though her daddy, Andrew, had told her they were happy with the angels, it broke Bella’s heart to think that her sister Lia would feel so cold and alone under the ground.
“Mommy, I miss you so much! I miss Lia too. Can you please come back? Deddy misses you too, Lia….” Bella called out as she held her teddy bear, Deddy, in tears.
Andrew was right outside Bella’s room that night, and hearing his little 8-year-old daughter pining for her mother and twin sister broke his heart.
Since Linda and Lia passed away in a car crash, Andrew hadn’t been able to spend much time with Bella. He’d often be in his room alone as he, too, was finding it hard to cope with their loss. The death of a loved one breaks one. Losing Linda and Lia had broken Andrew from the inside too.
“Lia sent me a letter, daddy! I told you she misses me. Would you please read it for me? I’ll sit with Lia while you read it.”
In the days following the burial, Andrew had sent Bella to live with her aunt. He just didn’t have the strength to talk to anyone or do anything. However, after Bella kept crying at her aunt’s house, telling her she wanted her mommy and sister back, Andrew had to bring her home.
One day, he finally confronted her and told her they were not coming back. “They’re with the angels, Bella. And mommy and Lia are very happy there.”
But Bella didn’t believe him. “How can Lia be okay, daddy? You forgot she gets scared when she’s alone! That’s why I had to share my bed with her. She must be feeling so cold and hungry too. I’m worried about her….”
Andrew didn’t know how to tell Bella that you don’t feel cold, hungry, scared, or anything after death. You’re just gone. Far away. And you don’t come back to your loved ones.
“Honey, you need to believe, daddy. They’re okay!”
“No, daddy! You’re so mean! You don’t care about Lia anymore! Is this because she left us? I don’t like you, daddy!” Bella cried and ran away to her room.
Andrew sighed, not knowing what to do. Bella had to stop worrying about the people who weren’t coming back for her.
One morning, Bella was very sad. She was staring at her breakfast plate blankly, not ready to eat a single bite of her food. Seeing her like that, Andrew was very concerned.
“Daddy, can we go meet Lia today? I miss her. She must be feeling lonely,” she said.
“Honey,” replied Andrew. “We’ve talked about this before. Lia is happy where she is…but,” he paused, “how about we leave a toy with Lia, so she isn’t alone. Maybe Deddy can stay with her?”
“Deddy…He’s my favorite toy,” she mumbled. “But I have so many other toys, and Lia doesn’t have a single one. If I give her Deddy, will she be happy?”
Andrew nodded. “Of course. We will visit Lia tomorrow. Daddy has some work, and he will get some toys for Lia too. She’ll be happy that daddy got her something. Will that be OK with you?”
Bella smiled. “Yes, daddy! You know what, I’ll get her favorite cookies too! Lia would be so happy. She won’t be hungry anymore!”
The next day, Andrew took Bella to Lia’s grave. When they arrived, Bella picked up her favorite toy and other things she had brought for Lia and ran to her grave.
“Lia! Look who’s here! It’s Deddy!” she cried, stopping right in front of Lia’s grave. Then she noticed a letter in a beautiful pink envelope near it.
“To Bella…From Lia,” it read.
“What is that, honey?” Andrew asked her.
“Lia sent me a letter, daddy! I told you she misses me. Would you please read it for me? I’ll sit with Lia while you read it.”
“Sure, honey…”
Andrew opened the envelope and began reading the letter to Bella:
Dear Bella,
I am so happy to have a sweet sister like you. You are the best sister in the world, and I love you so much. But Bella, you don’t need to worry about me. Mommy is here in heaven to look after me, just like you have daddy with you. God called Mommy here because he knew I would be sad alone. So you don’t need to be sad and cry because of me.
Mommy and I love you, and we want you to be happy. When she helped me write this letter, she told me she doesn’t like it when you’re upset and cry. She wants you and daddy to smile more often. If you and daddy smile every day, she will be very happy, and I will smile back at you both, even if it is from a long distance.
If you’re worried that I’m hungry, I want to tell you that the angels here are very kind. They help mommy cook yummy things for me, so I am not hungry. You don’t need to worry about me, Bella. Just be happy. I will always love you and miss you. I know we are not lucky enough to talk to each other now, but we can comfort each other through letters. I’ll send you another one soon.
With love,
Lia.
“So Lia doesn’t need anything, daddy?” Bella asked sadly. “She doesn’t need the cookies? Is she full with the food angels give her?”
Andrew knelt to face her and hugged her close. “When our loved ones leave us, Bella, they go to a safe place where they are happy. That’s because the angels want our family and friends to be happy when we are not around them. Mommy and Lia are happy, too, so don’t worry. ”
“If Lia and mommy are happy,” said Bella, “I think I am happy too…I still want to give her the toys we got for her. I don’t want them because I have other toys.”
“No problem, honey,” said Andrew, smiling. “But now we know Lia and Mommy are happy, you don’t need to be worried about it all the time. Daddy will not worry about it too….” Andrew added.
Bella left Deddy near Lia’s grave and smiled. “There you go, Deddy. If Lia asks about me, tell her I’ll come to meet her soon!”
With time, Bella was comforted by the knowledge that her sister and mother were happy and safe with the angels. She continued to bring toys to Lia, but she didn’t worry about her anymore.
Daddy Andrew didn’t tell little Bella that it was he who wrote the letter, deciding he would tell her everything when she was old enough. In fact, he decided to keep writing her letters occasionally until she was older and could face reality.
“…Remember what I said the last time? I’ll come and meet you even when I grow VERY old and become a granny, Lia! I love you,” Bella would tell Lia every time she left the cemetery. But instead of crying and worrying about her sister, she would have a huge grin on her face as she looked forward to her next visit.
What can we learn from this story?
Not even death can break bonds that are formed with the heart. Bella loved Lia and cared for her so much that even after her death, she worried about her and made sure she was never lonely.
Losing a loved one is not easy for anyone, but especially difficult for children. Thanks to Andrew’s letter, Bella was rid of her worries and accepted that her sister was happy with the angels.
Share this story with your friends. It might brighten their day and inspire them.
If you enjoyed this story, you might like this one about a soldier’s son who brought a US flag to his grave and found an envelope there.
This piece is inspired by stories from the everyday lives of our readers and written by a professional writer. Any resemblance to actual names or locations is purely coincidental. All images are for illustration purposes only.