just because time passes or everyone else stops asking.
A monthly letter for women navigating breast cancer.
A Letter from Dana is a snail mail subscription written by someone who understands breast cancer firsthand, created to help you feel seen, remembered, and less alone.
A real letter waiting in your mailbox. Beautiful paper pieces tucked inside. A small moment of comfort for the days breast cancer takes up more space than you want it to.
For wherever you are in it
Maybe you got the news three weeks ago and you're still learning how to say the word out loud. Maybe you're deep in treatment, tired in a way nobody around you seems to notice. Maybe treatment ended months ago, but breast cancer is still part of your life in ways other people don’t always see. Maybe there's no finish line for you at all, and you're tired of language that assumes there is.
A Letter from Dana isn't written for one version of this.
You've probably already heard you're a warrior, that you should stay positive, that everything happens for a reason. None of that tells you anything, and none of it makes the mail heavier or lighter. This isn't that.
It’s written for the version of you that feels strong, the version that feels tired, and the one nobody’s checked on in a while.
What arrives in the envelope
A real letter, written for the good days, the hard days, and all the ordinary ones in between.
Each month also includes a few paper pieces, such as an art/postcard, mini calendar, thoughtful prompt, seasonal recipe, or another little surprise.
The details may change, but one thing won’t: nothing inside asks anything from you. You don’t have to reply, explain, or pretend you’re okay. You just get to open it.
Even With People Who Love You
You have people. A partner, maybe, or a mother-in-law texting "thinking of you!!" A group chat that means well.
That's not nothing, and it's not the whole story either.
Because love doesn't always know what to say. It checks in and then, without meaning to, starts checking in less. It asks how you're doing, which means you have to have an answer. It celebrates when treatment ends, even though ending isn't the same as being okay.
This isn't a replacement for the people around you. It's for the part none of them can quite reach, the part that doesn't want to update anyone, doesn't want to be brave for anyone, just wants proof, once a month, that someone still remembers.
The story behind A Letter from Dana
In 2021, I was diagnosed with breast cancer. My life as I knew it was gone, and for a while, everything felt harder than it ever had before.
I know what it's like to be surrounded by people and still feel unseen. The casseroles, texts, and phone calls show up. Then time passes, and everyone else moves back into their lives, and you're still in it. Always tired and still scared some days. Wondering if anyone will ask how you're really doing.
I started writing in a journal because I needed somewhere to put all of my fear, anger, exhaustion, and the things I didn’t know how to say out loud.
That's where A Letter from Dana came from.
I write as an unwilling insider, but I’m grateful I can use what I know firsthand to help another woman feel a little less alone.
but they're written for more than just me.
Paying it forward
When this little community reaches another 50 subscribers, I’ll make a quilted tote and draw one subscriber at random to receive it.
No application. No essay about why she deserves it. Just a lovely surprise from one sister to another.
Monthly Subscription
A new letter and paper collection arrives each month. Renews monthly and can be canceled anytime.
Annual Subscription
Receive 12 monthly letters, save $24, and enjoy a birthday note or small surprise during the year. Does not renew automatically.
Send the Monthly Letter to Someone You Love
For her birthday. After a diagnosis. When treatment ends and everyone else assumes life goes back to normal.
You can send the monthly letter for 3, 6, or 12 months, or keep it going month to month.
It’s a thoughtful way to say, I’m still here, without asking her to reply, explain, or be okay.
Gift subscriptions do not auto-renew, and you can include a personal note in her first envelope.
SEND A LETTER EACH MONTH
Choose how long you’d like to keep showing up
She’ll receive the same monthly letter and paper pieces, with a personal note from you tucked inside her first envelope.
Gift subscriptions do not renew automatically.
