CV NEWS FEED // In a letter written just days before her death, former Congresswoman Mia Love reflected on faith, gratitude, and the country she cherished while offering what she called her “living wish” for America.
“My dear friends, fellow Americans and Utahns,” she wrote in her letter, “I am taking up my pen, not to say goodbye but to say thank you and express my living wish for you and the America I know.”
Love, the first black Republican woman to serve in the U.S. House of Representatives, wrote the open letter March 11 after learning that her brain cancer had stopped responding to treatment. She had battled glioblastoma multiforme for three years, far surpassing her original prognosis.
A wife, mother, and grandmother, she credited her “extra season of life” not only to excellent medical care but also to “the faith and prayers of countless friends, known and unknown.” Love emphasized that, for her, “faith and science are inextricably interconnected.”
With her time growing shorter, she said she felt called to reflect — not to say goodbye, but to express gratitude and pass on what she called her “living wish.”
“Couching this column as a ‘dying wish’ felt a little dramatic, even for a drama person like me,” she wrote. “We are not certain how long this season of my battle will be and I do want to share, and reshare, some things with the world that I passionately believe.”
The former congresswoman, who died March 23 at the age of 49, used her final public message not to dwell on illness or loss, but to reflect on the nation’s promise and character.
She praised the generosity and compassion of everyday Americans, writing that these qualities “cannot be measured” and serve to multiply the nation’s strength, especially when neighbors care for one another and communities grow through shared purpose.
Love traced her vision of America to her childhood, shaped by the sacrifices of her immigrant parents.
“My parents immigrated to the United States with $10 in their pocket and a belief that the America they had heard about really did exist as the land of opportunity,” she wrote. “Through hard work and great sacrifice they achieved success.”
She recalled being raised to love her country, flaws and all, and to believe that she had a role to play in its future. That belief, she said, formed the foundation for her commitment to public service.
Love described a country made strong by personal responsibility, limited government, and civic virtue.
“The America I know doesn’t make excuses,” she said. “It is grounded in the gritty determination found in patriots, pioneers and struggling parents … and in every child who looks at the seemingly impossible and says, ‘I can do that.’”
Love also warned that division threatens the foundation of the country: “Some have forgotten the math of America — whenever you divide you diminish.”
Throughout the letter, Love returned to a conviction she expressed often: the country’s strength lies not in its government but in its people.
“The America I know is great — not because government made it great,” she wrote, “but because ordinary citizens like me, like my parents and like you are given the opportunity every day to do extraordinary things.”
She urged Americans to preserve the country’s founding ideals and pass them on to future generations. The nation, she wrote, must remain “that shining city on a hill — truly the last best hope on earth.”
In her closing lines, Love expressed her hope that her words and values would outlast her, continuing to inspire those who love the country she cherished.
“My living wish and fervent prayer for you and for this nation is that the America I have known, is the America you fight to preserve,” she wrote, “and that each citizen, and every leader, will do their part to ensure that the America we know will be the America our grandchildren and great grandchildren will inherit.”
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