Her little one will hear about Yiayia—”I just want her to get to know how amazing my mom was”—and experience her presence daily when she sees the photo of Litsa, clad in a chef’s hat, hanging in Maria and Keven’s kitchen.
“She’s so vibrant and smiling and happy,” Maria described. “Every morning, I put my hand on her heart and I tell her I love and miss her. I see her pictures throughout the house, and it’s always pictures of her healthy. That helps fade the memories of her without her hair and looking ill. That has really helped me.”
When she does feel a wave of grief, of fear, of anxiety approaching, Maria remembers the lessons she’s learned from the experts on her podcast: Take it a day by day. Heck, even minute by minute.
“I choose wonder over worry,” she admitted. “I wonder what it’s going to be like when the doctor gives me good news. I wonder what it’s going to be like when I get past this, and I heal. Every time I do it, it works.”
Because, if nothing else, her mom taught her life was for the living. And now, as she said, “I’m going to live it. If I can, I will.”
