ERIE, Pa. (WJET/WIAT) — Knowing her death would be sooner than later, one Pennsylvania teacher took it on herself to say her final words in her own obituary.

Ashley Kuzma, 32, had previously beat throat cancer three times before it returned again. This time, she did not recover, dying Sept. 22. Despite enduring dozens of chemotherapy treatments, she always returned to her students at McDowell Intermediate School. At times, Kuzma had to press her hand to her throat so her students could hear her.

Kuzma was so concerned about how her family would handle her death that she wrote her own obituary, which ran a couple of weeks after she passed away in the Erie Times-News.

“I am extremely grateful for the life that I lived,” Kuzma wrote in the obituary that ran Thursday. “I was fortunate to have a loving family, supportive friends, a stable and meaningful job, and a house to call my own. My wish for you is to stop letting insignificant situations stress you out. Do what is important to you. Relax and enjoy the company of those around you. What do you value in your life? In the end, that’s what matters.”