Seeing the delight on the faces of Belmi and Gustavo Tepeque as they explored Iao Valley’s Kepaniwai Heritage Gardens with their two young children last week, it would be easy to think the young couple from Santa Barbara, Calif., didn’t have a care in the world.

With a wide, enthusiastic smile, 22-year-old Belmi held hands with daughter Genesis, 4, as they navigated narrow stone bridges and visited colorful pavilions. Decked out in matching dresses, they were in no hurry, just having fun as they let their curiosity guide them.

Trailing behind, carrying their 8-month-old son, Isaiah, Gustavo captured the mother-daughter memory-making with a cellphone attached to a selfie stick. With the rain stopped, the park was coming to life with everything from wandering tourists and a preschool class on a field trip, to a local family cooking a little pig on a spit.

The afternoon visit to Iao is something Belmi hopes to chat about with her daughter someday. While her doctors have given her a terminal diagnosis and she is currently in hospice care, Belmi hopes to see her children grow up.

The day she informed her doctor she would rather be present in her family’s life than go through another round of chemotherapy to treat her stage-four metabolic gastric cancer, she says he responded with a dire warning.

“The doctor said, ‘Your cancer will kill you. It’s going to kill you.’ I wake up and hear that voice. I have a limited time according to them, but I have learned to push through,” she said.

Belmi says good diet, exercise and healthy habits play roles in keeping her going, but believes positivity and faith are the keys.

“I have two choices every time I get up,” she says, “stay on the couch, not do anything and be depressed, or remind myself that I have a big God and pray, then move on with my daily activities. Either you pick yourself up, motivate yourself, be positive and concentrate on what you have faith in, get your spirits up and move along in life, or you keep those thoughts inside and you just get depressed and shut down.

“I’m just trying to be a faithful woman of God. Mother Mary has kept me alive.”

The Tepeques’ trip to Maui was provided by the Dream Foundation, a national organization that serves terminally ill adults and their families by providing end-of-life dreams. Dreamers have a prognosis of one year or less.

The trip was supported by Alaska Airlines; Coconut Condos, a vacation rental agency that has hosted Dream recipients and their families since 2012; Drums of the Pacific, which donated luau tickets; and Trilogy Excursions, which took the family out on a whale-watching excursion.

“I am eternally grateful to come across this amazing opportunity because of the Dream Foundation,” Belmi said. “They have made a huge impact on my life. Through the Dream Foundation, I have experienced an unbelievable feeling that has helped me bloom again.”

For a young couple that rents a room in Belmi’s parents’ house and with her battling cancer since 2015, just having a nice place to call their own home for a few days was a blessing. Their luxury Maui condo was provided by Coconut Condos.

“Maui is an amazing opportunity to be with my family,” Belmi said at Kepaniwai. “It may sound crazy, but my favorite is just being in the condo. Just having our own place. It inspires me to keep going, to keep fighting.”

Back home in California this week, she spoke on the phone about a variety of topics, including the support she has received from her husband, Gustavo.

“The last thing he ever wants to think about is if I ever pass away,” Belmi said. “He buries all of that and demonstrates so much positivity. He is so optimistic, and he says that he knows that we will continue to be a family. Even though there are moments that he breaks down, moments that he asks, ‘when is this ever going to end?’ I just try to come back with a positive thought. He’s trying to just grasp onto that faith and God’s promises that we will be OK. He is always putting himself third. He’s an amazing husband and father.”

As for sharing Maui memories with her daughter, she says they sure had fun making them.

“It was just me and her bonding. Me and her laughing inside the pool. It’s crazy to say, but when I’m home and thinking so many negative things and getting through my activities, it’s hard to just sit down and hug her. I was able to forget about everything and just love her and hug her and fill her up with so many kisses.”

Hearts warmed by memories of Maui, letting their positivity and faith guide the way, the Tepeque family moves toward an uncertain, but hopeful, future. If the brightness of a smile and love of a family make any difference, Belmi Tepeque may just live forever.

* Matthew Thayer can be reached at thayer@maui.net.