On their fourth wedding anniversary in April of 1996, just eleven months after the riding accident that saw him paralysed from the neck down, Christopher Reeve‘s wife, Dana, gave him the following letter. They remained married until his death in 2004, by which point the Superman actor had lent his name to the American Paralysis Foundation and worked tirelessly to promote their cause. In 2006, Dana passed away after succumbing to lung cancer.

Transcript follows.

(Source: Care Packages; Image: Dana & Christopher Reeve, via.)

Transcript

11 April 1996

My darling Toph,

This path we are on is unpredictable, mysterious, profoundly challenging, and, yes, even fulfilling. It is a path we chose to embark on together and for all the brambles and obstructions that have come our way of late, I have no regrets. In fact, all of our difficulties have shown me how deeply I love you and how grateful I am that we can follow this path together. Our future will be bright, my darling one, because we have each other and our young ‘uns.

With all my heart and soul I love you,

Dana