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The Why Factor: Farewell Letters

Farewell Letters

14/10/2016 GMT

BBC World Service - The Why Factor, Farewell Letters

Why do we write farewell letters? And how do we find the words to say goodbye?

Why do we write farewell letters? Whether messages from the living to the dying or from the dead to the living, Mike Williams asks how to find the words to say goodbye.

Why do we write farewell letters? Whether it is messages from the living to the dying or from the dead to the living, how can we find the words to say goodbye?   

A letter from a daughter to her dying father, a last letter from a soldier on the eve of battle, messages of love from a dying mother to her young daughter and a suicide note from a father to his teenage son.  Mike Williams explores the comfort and pain of goodbye letters.

Contributors: Susan Geer, Last Goodbye Letters; Joe Williams, The Enemy Within; Brendan McDonnell, Herman’s Hands; Laura Colclough; Julie Stokes, Founder, Winston’s Wish; Anthony Richards, Imperial War Museum.  

(Photo: Woman and child walking along woodland path. Credit: Shutterstock)

(Clip credit: The Mummy Diaries (2007), Ricochet/Channel 4 TV)

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