Clare Jones, a 47-year-old mother of three based in Wales, United Kingdom, was diagnosed with bowel cancer in 2022. While she underwent treatment for a while, she was recently told her chemotherapy was no longer responding.
Jones was given about 10 months to live.
As a lover of holidays, one of her first thoughts was to make a Facebook post.
“After finding out last week that this is probably going to be my last Christmas, I am looking for ways to make it super special,” she wrote.
“I’m a simple person who likes simple things. I love Christmas cards!!! I would love to have lots of cards this year!!! So I’m asking you kindly, when you are doing your cards could you pop an extra one in the post for me?”
Initially, she told the BBC, she expected to get 10 or 15 extra cards from friends and community members. But her post went viral, and over 10,000 people shared it. Thousands of cards have arrived in the post since, as well as flowers, chocolates, personalized gifts, and theater tickets.
“Someone even offered me a night with them,” she laughed. “I said ‘that’s very kind of you but no thank you.’”
Comments of support also poured in on Facebook.
“We’ve always known you’re a simple person,” one person, presumably a friend, joked. “You’re also very brave, kind, and very loved. I don’t do Xmas cards, but for you I’ll make an exception.”
It seems that person wasn’t the only one.
Jones and her family have been sorting through the messages sent via snail mail, both laughing and crying at all of the notes. They range the gamut: Poems and letters, children’s handmade cards, and holiday goodies have arrived from across the globe. She has received cards from the United States, Greece, Holland, Spain, Germany, France, and New Zealand.
“A simple card with a simple message has really made our Christmas, all of us,” she told the BBC.
It’s been a special reprieve for her three children, ages 16, 20, and 22, as well. All of them live at home with their mother, who has raised them independently for the last decade.
“I remember when my children were leaving primary school, I would think, ‘It’s their last concert at primary school…’ you go through the stages of last, last,” Jones told the BBC.
“But when you're talking about yourself, it’s the last time you’re ever going to see Christmas, you know, Halloween is gone and you didn't realise that was your last Halloween, last Christmas, last birthday. Your mind runs away with you … when you’re told ten months.”
Jones’s first tumor was removed in 2022, but a year later, the cancer had spread to her lymph nodes and lungs, developing to stage four. In November, she received the news that the treatment was no longer working, and the doctors said a 10-month prognosis was average for someone in her position.
“But am I average? I’ve never been average,” Clare told the BBC.
She remains realistic about her circumstances, while still holding out for a “Christmas miracle.”
The holiday cards have certainly boosted morale at home, and she said she hopes to respond to each and every person who sent her mail individually.
“I want to respond to everybody, everyone has been so kind,” she said. “I have many people around me who care for me. If love could cure cancer, I would be cured.”
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Header images courtesy of Clare Jones and Annie Spratt via Unsplash
