A Girl Named Maria

Maria Valdes Zaayman was born pretty, the second child of author Thusnelda Mencio Valdes and her husband, Dr. Luis G. Valdes-Larralde. In 1961, the family left Havana, Cuba, and immigrated to the United States when Maria was a year old. As a young woman, Maria was loved for her sense of humor, generosity, and dedication to her professional work in nursing and teaching. She married Johan Zaayman, a South African diplomat, and lived with him and their two children in South Africa and India. In 1998, the Zaayman family returned to the United States. But at age fifty, when Maria's life had been fulfilled by marriage, children, and a profession, she was diagnosed with glioblastoma multiforme, a rare and lethal form of brain cancer. Maria, her physicians, and her family then began the battle against the cancer. Valdes narrates Maria's story and shares how, throughout her ordeal, her courage and faith in God never failed.