Ideas needed : Friend with young child diagnosed with terminal cancer‏

[vrclay]

One of my college roommates was just diagnosed with terminal brain cancer and was given months (maybe weeks) to live. She survived the breast cancer diagnosis 2.5 years ago. She was diagnosed 3 weeks after giving birth. Her son is now 2 and a half. To make it worse, she's on the west coast. She's said she doesn't want any of us to come visit. I'd like to do something for her son, something like a memory book. I'm thinking something to let her son know what a great friend she was. Do we compile a collection of letters to her son? Do we fashion it as a children's book? Does anyone have any resources, ideas? I'm sure there must be someone who has done something like what I'm thinking about...
I'm open to other ideas as well. We just feel so useless...

[zinemama]

How awful.

I think a book is a great idea. Personally, I would gear it toward an older child, because he's going to have a lot more questions about his mother as a person the older he gets. Put in pictures, anecdotes, memories, anything you can think of that will give him a picture of who this woman was, in they eyes of one friend, anyway. And send it asap, so she can see it. This is the kind of thing I would want to know was going to be around for my child.

[Mom2M]

That is terrible, I'm so sorry.
I think you have a great idea and I agree with getting it there soon so that she might be able to see it.
You can always add to it if you do it like a scrap book not a permanently bound book.
It would be awesome to have a letter of memories from each of you describing things she liked and that you did together. Then maybe put them in the book next to any pictures of you together.