I was privileged to give birth to "Sophi" (as she prefers to be known) more than twelve years ago- thirteen next January. Her name means
“wisdom”, and her high level of insight, understanding and
self-awareness indicates to me that she's living up to it. I feel
that I can talk to her about
anything and
have her catch my drift.
She's faced major transitions
with incredible grace and adaptability, and is adept at modulating
her emotions. In fact, I can't think of a time when I've seen her
lose her temper with any of her many brothers and sisters. A peace
lover and peacemaker, she tries to treat them with kindness and
compassion, and on several occasions has designed imaginative games
and activities such as treasure hunts for the younger children. She
once designed and drew a personalized coloring and activity book
especially for Gloria. She is drawn to good and meaningful things.
She told me recently that
God's Not Dead is
her “new favorite movie”- revealing her endearing propensity for
that which is noble and virtuous. Here she is returning from a summer Pioneer Trek experience. I think she looks lovely- even when dirty and disheveled. As kind as she is, one day she'll forgive me for posting this picture.
Super intelligent as are all
my children, she reads voraciously- attracted to the dramatic and
fantastic, and has written some impressive works of short fiction of
a fantasy bent. Doubly gifted, her rich inner life is matched by a
sparkling personality with an adorable sense of humor. Her
unexpected quips during family gatherings have made us all laugh.
Full blossoming with talent, she's a
wonderful actress and singer, and writes songs and lyrics that bowl me over with
their musicality as well as their depth of expression. She is
EXCELLENT with pitch and harmonizing. She keeps a binder of her
favorite song lyrics handy, for opportune “belting-it-out” times.
I love it when she and Vilate sing together. She does beautiful,
intricate colored pencil drawings and has quite an eye for
photography as well. In fact, she has become a bit
too
adroit at “selfies” and Instagram. Ahem...
To my
beautiful, smart, caring, compassionate, talented, creative, lovely,
witty, exemplary girl: You will ALWAYS have my heart. Love you
forever!
