I recently had the opportunity to speak with Patrick Doughtie, the writer and co-director of Letters to God. The interview flowed as a natural conversation and was a little different for me because of my own personal interest in the movie.

Letters to God is based on Patrick's son Tyler. I had my own experiences with a little boy named Tyler Graebener who died from cancer when he was 9. I did a lot of work with Tyler over the years and will be forever impacted as a result of witnessing the tremendous courage and example of this little boy. Letters to God is a personal journey and story of Patrick's son who succumbed to a rare form of brain cancer. There is something about the honest life of a child that teaches lessons and has value. Letters to God is a movie and story that shares the wisdom of a child. While there are liberties taken in the story, the lessons, the examples, are very much a part of the reality of Tyler.

As I did a little research on the film I had a spiritual experience. Without me knowing, I discovered some associations with the film. Among those associations included is music from the band Stars Go Dim. I have gotten to know these guys over the last year or so and was surprised to discover one of their songs on the soundtrack for the film. I also discovered that Patrick is based out of Nashville, a city where I have many friends and once lived near. There is also the commonality of both of us losing a loved one to cancer, both who happened to be named Tyler. While much more personal for Patrick, as it is the story of his son, the connection still brought back memories for me of the little boy I loved, and reminded me how movies can impact the lives of people like I had once written of Tyler Graebener.

Patrick shared with me that "the story of Letters to God is about a little boy who has cancer and writes letters to God, and was inspired by my son. The film version shares how he impacted people and it touches on his childlike faith. In the story he has an impact on a down-and-out postal worker."

I asked how different the story was from real life and Patrick responded: "A lot of the conversations between the son and mother are actually conversations between me and my son. The movie is really Tyler's cancer story wrapped in fiction. The letters are a metaphor of his life and his love for God. In real life, Tyler was his own letter to God. He was the messenger who had to share the story. Actually, I later found some letters that were passed off into the production company. There are a lot of fictional characters in the movie but some, like one of the little girls, is based off a friend he met at St. Jude's Hospital."

One of the things I appreciated is the work being done to help raise awareness and help agencies that do work. Part of the work being supported by the web site and movie include charities such as Hope Kids, The Arnold Palmer Hospital, and Give Kids the World Village. The web site for the movie, www.letterstogodthemovie.com, also has link that allows individuals to share their own stories. It doesn't take long to realize the impact this movie has had on multitudes of grieving loved ones.

Continue: 1 2 3