In a tribute to the life of Sophia and in efforts to show the links between her heart and our programming, we have created this section.  As you read the stories on this page, we hope Sophia will become more real to all and the essence of her heart will be portrayed more vividly for everyone to know.  This section will be updated periodically with new stories which are provided by some of the people that were closest to Sophia.  We hope you enjoy!


Story Provided by Sophia's Cousin Marilyn, 9/30/09

Among the many memories I cherish of Sophia, these are some of the ones that stick out the most to me.  One of the greatest memories was singing together at our church– my mother looked forward to this, she would have us over after Sunday morning services and she would help us learn a song and teach us our vocal parts.  Sunday night service is when we would sing our songs, it always brought a smile to our Pastors face.  Even though we all shared the same giftings, we stood out uniquely on our own. 

One thing I always remember about my dear cousin Sophia is that children always gravitated to her.  We would pick our seats for Sunday morning service, and the smaller children would make their way to our row, and look for Sophia to hold them.  She was always picking up the babies who were almost as big as her (she was always so petite), and always trying to help in the nursery. 

As we grew older, that Love never changed.  We would talk about our dream wedding and how many children we would have—I stuck to two, she always talked about having four or more.  I remember just laughing and telling her “Girl, I can totally picture you with a whole tribe of children.” I ended up having the first baby out of all of us girls, my precious daughter Taliyah.  A holiday did not go by without a gift from Sophia, she made sure she always gave her something wrapped up in cute wrapping paper and bows!  She became my daughter’s nanny for a year.  I remember coming home and Taliyah and Sophia would sing to me the new song they learned, Taliyah’s favorite till this day is the “Bumble Bee” song.  Or they would have a new piece of Art work made for me, creatively made out of yogurt.  Sophia would take pictures of my daughter getting full of the yogurt, paint, or play dough.  She did this so that I wouldn’t miss out on important things my baby did while I was gone at work. I couldn’t have asked for anyone better to keep watch over my baby, I was so secure in knowing that my Taliyah was being well taken care of and loved. 

When my son Gianni came around a couple years later, she gave him the same amount of love that she gave Taliyah—she was very close to both my children.  I could always count on her to take them for me when I needed a helping hand.  A weekly ritual for the three of them was baking “treats”, as she called them, Rice Krispies being one of their favorites.  Since we lived down the alley from each other a year before she passed, we looked forward to our nightly visits with each other, when she called she would tell me to make sure to bring “my angels” with me.  She loved their company, and my children loved hers.  Even though she is gone, we will forever remember her and the impact she had, and the love she had for children. 


Healing with Music & Arts

  • Inspiring Minds
  • Helping Families
  • Restoring Hope