A Canadian mother is asking people to send her 9-year-old daughter Christmas cards to cheer her up as she battles cancer.
Hailey loves getting mail and her mom, Jaunita Rodenhiser, realized this would be a great way to bring joy into her daughter’s world.
She especially likes cards with animals, like dogs cats and horses, since she hopes to become a veterinarian one day.
Hailey was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia in 2014, and has been receiving chemotherapy ever since.
To keep her daughter optimistic, Rodenhiser sought a way to show Hailey “the spirit of Christmas.” She posted the request for cards on Facebook on Nov. 24.
A few days later, Hailey was one of the parade marshals of the town Christmas parade in Bridgewater, Nova Scotia, where the family lives.
The local Garden Gazette newspaper wrote up Hailey’s appearance at the parade, and sent the little girl her first Christmas card.
The next day was a rough day for the family due to car troubles and Hailey getting hurt after falling down. But then they checked the mail and Hailey had received five cards.
“Even with all this going on I saw a shining light today when we got home,” wrote Rodenhiser. “Our girl just so loves getting mail. She was so excited. She even got a letter back from Santa already.”
The cards have continued to come. On Tuesday, Rodenhiser said the postal driver was beginning to catch on. On Wednesday, CTV News posted a story about the family’s request for cards.
“Each day she is more excited about seeing the Christmas cards,” Rodenhiser said.
First-class international mail from the U.S. to Canada for envelopes under 2 oz. costs $1.15, according to the U.S. Postal Service.
Thursday marks the two-year anniversary of Hailey’s diagnosis.
“She looked and felt so ill and we had no idea of the long difficult struggles that were to come,” her mother wrote of that day in 2014. “No parent wants to hear that their child in critically ill with a life threatening disease and it tore our world apart. Everything changed.”
Hailey has about nine months more of treatment, but she’s been getting stronger, her mother said.
“There will always be worries and fears of a relapse and we will always be on high alert for signs of illness but we hope that the coming year will see the end of the treatment and side effects. We are so proud of her,” she wrote.
Rodenhiser plans on posting a photo on Christmas Day of Hailey with all the cards she receives.
If you’d like to send Hailey Rodenhiser a card, you can send it to this address:
151 HIRTLE ROAD
DAYSPRING NS B4V 5R1
CANADA
“We hope she has a big pile to be covered in like fall leaves,” Rodenhiser wrote.
