This thank you note is long overdue.
As most of you know, our 30-year-old daughter, Maria, passed into heaven in late January after a short battle with cancer.
Since Maria’s passing, the outpouring of love and prayer and concern has been wonderfully overwhelming for me, for my wife, Barbara, and for our younger daughter, Katrina. Thank you.
Thank you to all of you who contacted us personally or through cards or letters or phone calls or email messages or through a posting on Maria’s obituary page or through Facebook. We have been lovingly amazed by the sheer number of people who have expressed their feelings for us or for Maria. We are so blessed.
Thank you, too, to those of you who attended Maria’s memorial service or who prepared meals or sent food or flowers or gifts. We wholeheartedly appreciate each gesture of love, and we feel like the body of Christ has definitely surrounded us in our time of sorrow and need.
We also need to thank those of you who made monetary gifts on Maria’s behalf to Compassion International, a Christian ministry that releases children from poverty in Jesus’s name. Maria always had a heart for those who are less fortunate, and knowing that these children have benefited somehow is a sweet comfort in the midst of our loss.
Though we still miss Maria terribly, of course, and will always miss her, we are adjusting to our new reality. On one hand, we look forward to a heavenly reunion with Maria someday, but until then, we want to enjoy the earthly journey that God has given us. Thus, we lovingly appreciate all the special people that God has put into our lives. You, dear friends, are God’s gift to us, and for your love and thoughtfulness and generosity, we will always be grateful.
Sincerely,
Jim, Barbara and Katrina LaBate
Published: Mon, 02 May 2016 12:10:42 +0000 by j.labate