For Sophia...

If any of you have read my book (Push by D.P. Davidson, you can find it on Amazon and Smashwords) you will have seen "For Sophia" on the title page. I don't know if any of you have wondered who Sophia is but I'm gonna tell you anyway.

Sophia is my brother's youngest daughter. They call her Diva because she is strong-willed and will have her own way, so help her. She gets it from her mother (who uses her power for good). Now for Momma, these are traits to be admired but for Diva, these traits have probably saved her life.

See, the Divine Miss S. came into this world kicking and screaming two months ahead of schedule. She has been a resident at Cook Children's her entire life or seven months. She has good days and bad days and really, really bad days. She has had more surgeries in her young life than everyone in our entire family put together. Her parents made the decision, last month, to allow the doctors to put in a trach because Diva kept pulling her tubes out and strapping her arms down wasn't working anymore.

It has been hard to see my brother's family struggle. He and his wife are at that hospital every day and when they go home they have other children who still need their time and attention. My sweet sister in law, has been amazing and I know she finds that hard to believe. She marches, she stumbles, she cries and then she gets back up and keeps right on moving. I know she is tired, I know my brother is tired but as long as Diva is willing to fight the good fight, they'll be right there.

When you see people you love in pain, you ache too. Especially when you know there's nothing you can do and they have to carry the burden on their own.

My hope is that one day, when she's older, her name in this book will help her to know how much she is loved, that her parents know, right now, how very much they are loved and that they are not forgotten as they forge ahead through fretful days and sleepless nights.

For Sophia...is everything that I can give to them.