Written while mourning the loss of her daughter, For the Love of a Daughter is a bittersweet memorial to a child sent by God to find support and love in the author’s care. Tabitha was a troubled child, abused and neglected and looking for guidance when she came, as a teenager, to Maria’s youth ministry. She called every adult woman “Mom” then, but as their relationship grew, Maria became, for all intents and purposes, her earthly mother. “I was chosen by God and Tabitha to be her mother in every way that was important to her. I would come to love this young woman and how that changed me and how I currently see my daughters now.” So, when Tabitha was diagnosed with cancer at the age of twenty-three, Maria would face the hardest year of her life.

For the Love of a Daughter chronicles the final months of Tabitha’s life, with all the heartbreak of losing a child. The challenges of the medical system, the ravages of both the illness and treatments, the trails of faith—all of this and more is detailed in Maria’s journey. In the end, Tabitha is gone but not forgotten. She was loved. She mattered. And the impact of her life on Maria and her family is everlasting. 

About the Author

Maria Dailey lives in north Florida, where she was born and raised. She has been married twenty-five years and is the mother of four daughters and grandmother to four grandchildren. She owns and operates a small business that works with providers who care for people with disabilities. She works with her church as treasurer and youth group leader, along with her husband. Maria is a cancer survivor, having endured a colon resection, chemo, and radiation, and is now in remission. She loves coffee, cooking sweets, DIY, and taking pictures of her family.