Dear Derek,

Derek you are my brave little man. Though you are young you inspire me. I see everyday, through you, how to love God no matter what trials we have to go through. You are my soft hearted little man.

You are very smart but you always question yourself in school. You double check every answer to make sure it is right. You can not handle getting wrong answers or to get anything but an A plus. You will get so upset you will cry over a bad grade, which you get seldom.

You love your cat Solo. He is your baby. Whenever you are feeling down or sad you go out and cuddle him and he makes you feel better. Whenever you are having a bleed you can count on Solo to help the pain go away for the moment. Emotionally you are very soft hearted. This is a personality trait that I want you to keep. Being a sensitive man is very important. Your dad and I just have to help you with being confident and then you will be brilliant. Physically, scrawny as you are, you are very strong. You deal with so much being a Hemophiliac. I can not even explain to you how much it hurts me to know that you have inherited this from me. I can only tell you son that God has great things for some of us to do and go through. Though a great trial, this is one that God has chosen for you to have. I know that God only gives us as much as we can handle and that God must have such a wonderful plan for you. I pray everyday that I am able to teach you the things that you will need to follow the straight path so that you can do the great things he has for you to do.

Your life however does not only consist of hemophilia. You love anything Star Wars. You have quite a collection going on between your dad's boyhood collection and your own collection. You love to play video games, baseball (very carefully), ride your bike, swim, and to play with your sisters. You love your new bike and scare me half to death when you ride it.

You are excited about the new babies arrival. You don't say much but you are always asking me if the baby is moving so you can feel it. You hope for a boy so that you can teach him how to be a good brother. If he has hemophilia you say you will teach him how to be careful and will protect him. If he is not a hemophiliac you will just be a good brother and be happy there is another boy in the family. It is very important to you that the boys catch-up to the girls in numbers. If it is a girl you will love it but will probably be slightly disappointed. We will wait and see though.

Derek I love you will all my heart. I could not ask for a braver or more loving little boy. I am thankful God gave you to me.

Your Loving and Proud Mother