"An extraordinary documentary film"

In America in 2013 there were 585,720 cancer deaths, Maire became one of those statistics.

Maire Caitlin Kent was not your average teenager. Home-schooled in an almost abusive upbringing, the middle of ten children planned to join the U.S. Army when she turned 18.

By the time she was twenty-two, Maire had already been married and separated. To make ends meet, she worked two jobs at a nursing home as a nurse’s assistant. Caring for the elderly and frail, Maire did whatever it took to make her patients feel safe and respected, whether it was cleaning up after sick, bedridden residents, hand feeding them, or simply being their friend.

Maire decided to become a nurse. With her future finally coming into focus, the tall, slender, caring, and outgoing young lady had a wide range of friends. Maire was kind and welcoming to all - if you were meeting her for the first time, she made you feel like you had been friends for years; if you were her friend, she always made you feel like you were her best friend.

Maire’s fight with cancer began in November 2012. After months of flu-like symptoms and several misdiagnoses, Maire checked into the University of Michigan Health System. Her doctor, Monika Leja, a specialist in Cardio Oncology, diagnosed her with cardiac sarcoma. Maire had to make a decision: let the raging tumor take her life in the next short three weeks, or wage an all-out war against this threat to the precious gift she shared with all - her heart. Anyone who knew Maire knew she was going to fight, and fight she did: for eleven months straight. She never complained, never asked “why me?” but was always dedicated to defeating the devastating disease.

This is where Maire’s Journey begins.

Maire was introduced to documentary filmmaker Keith Famie by Dr. Monika Leja. Keith was in production at the University of Michigan Hospital on a film series called, coincidentally, “The Embrace of Dying: How We Deal With the End of Life. ” Keith asked to interview Maire about her fight with cancer. The one-time interview session turned into an eight-month story about friends, strangers, faith, and how to say goodbye.