The things you would have said

By Brittany Poss ~ Friends fall out of touch, people run out of time, or sometimes courage simply fails resulting in unshared thank-yous, regrets, feelings or secrets. Jackie Hooper, author of The Things You Would Have Said, has given thousands the chance to say what they have always wanted someone to know.

Hooper came up with the idea in 2009 while on vacation with her family in Hawaii. She heard about the death of actress Natasha Richardson who died suddenly after complications from a minor skiing accident. Immediately Hooper began to think about how quickly lives can change and how the people expected to be around indefinitely can disappear in an instant.

She realized the next best way beyond a face-to-face conversation was through the power of the written word. “I wanted to somehow give them a chance to speak to a loved one once more, to have that final conversation.”

The author contacted various organizations such as schools, jails, retirement homes and churches around her community asking people to write a letter that gave them the chance to tell someone something they never had the opportunity to express. As letters began to pour in, Hooper realized many people beyond her immediate community could benefit from this project. As a result, she started a blog, www.wouldhavesaid.com and began to post one letter a day hoping to inspire others to share their story.

Hooper stated, “The rawness of the pain being expressed was heartbreaking, and the honesty was humbling.” Many people who write letters also send a personal note thanking her for the chance to have a voice. They feel once the emotion is let out, they can let go of what they have been holding onto for days, months or even years.

In March of 2012, a compilation of letters was published in her first book titled The Things You Would Have Said. In the book, readers can find stories of love, loss and all the emotions in between. For example, Dave, 51, writes to his mother who left him at daycare 46 years ago promising to return. Ernest, 84, thanks the woman who protected his family from the Nazis during the Holocaust. Hooper’s hope is that the moving, surprising and inspiring words from ordinary people touch readers the same way they have for her.