Our Sweet Maria: Her First 30 Years and Her Final 30 Days (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9780966210057)

"But I'm too young to die."

Those were the words 30-year-old Maria uttered when an oncologist explained that a recently diagnosed breast cancer may have spread to her brain and if that were the case, the prognosis would be "poor."

Unfortunately, Maria did not survive.

This book is both a biography of Maria's life and a memoir of how her Christian family dealt with her hospitalization and eventual death. Maria was working full-time at a hospital and was studying part-time to earn her Master's degree in teaching when she became afflicted with what she thought was a migraine headache.

During most of Maria's final days in the hospital, various doctors were trying to determine the cause of not only Maria's headache but also her back and neck pain. One doctor in particular referred to her as a "diagnostic dilemma." Unfortunately, by the time they figured out the problem, Maria had only a short time to live.

As Maria's dad and as a retired college writing instructor, Jim LaBate dealt with Maria's sudden passing by writing about her life and her final month under medical care. Prior to taking on this writing task, he wrote six books: one work of nonfiction, Writing Is Hard: A Collection of Over 100 Essays, and five works of fiction. His latest novel - Streets of Golfito -

received the 2021 Maria Thomas Fiction Award for a book about the Peace Corps.

This book is a father's love song to his daughter.