The little sister of the butterfly girl: "This is the last gift of Sofia"

FLORENCE – One day, we will tell Gloria an extraordinary story. It will be poignant and wonderful like a fairy tale, but true, real, concrete. We will tell you that she has an older sister, called Sofia, an extraordinary child who has done a lot of beautiful things and lots of others to do. We will explain to her that she will always be beside her. Who can see her on the photos, in the videos, caress her by touching her dolls, visualize her in our stories, meet her in her dreams, love her and share her. And we will make them understand that it is a fortune, all that, because no one can see the guardian angels. But you, Gloria, can do it whenever you want.

In the room

In the small room full of stuffed toys, games and colorful books, a father and a mother talk caressing a little girl of three kilos. half, rosaceous and plump, who discovers the world. born nine days ago, as anticipated by The Nazione was a special day for Caterina and Guido. Gloria is the daughter of Caterina Ceccuti, 38, a journalist and writer, and Guido De Barros, 44, an architect. The chronic, sometimes cynical and ruthless, knew them as Sofia's parents, the butterfly suffering from a genetic disease that disappeared six months ago, when she was eight and a half years old. They talked about Stamina's method, which they had chosen for their daughter, and the freedom to give compbadionate care, even though they were not approved by medical protocols.

Parents

Caterina and Guido no longer want to talk about Stamina. They are exceptional parents. They never gave up on their first daughter's illness and had the strength and courage to believe in the present and the future by giving birth to another child. We never talk about the past in Sofia – they explain now -. It is part of our family project that we imagined four and four will be. Caterina does not hide that she had fears for the second pregnancy, until a prenatal examination excluded all types of pathology. Two weeks after being confirmed to have been pregnant with Gloria – he says – Sofia has gotten worse. And for the first time I knew I was losing it. I knew my daughter had a terminal illness, but I thought she could live longer. In some cases, time meets hope and becomes a category without limits. And for that reason with my husband we decided to give Sofia a little sister or a little brother, explains Caterina. So when the child got worse, these parents were worried that the sky would collapse again.

The New Arrival

Then, a light is on. Suddenly I had a strange, unexplainable and sublime feeling – says the mother -. Security never felt before caressed my soul. I was convinced that Sofia would not leave us until she knew that her sister would be born in good health. This was not his last gift because thanks to the research and donations of the badociation "Voa Voa amici di Sofia", a research conducted by the Mayer Hospital of Florence was funded and today We have an early diagnosis test on our daughter's newborn baby's disease and cure it in the first months of life, indispensable for healing. Sofia saves a lot of children. In the bedroom, the Toki dog, a white Maltese, begins to bark cheerfully. Here everything reminds Sofia – says Father Guido – but not a temple. The room will be personalized by the tastes and desire to create the world of Gloria. It will never be the rebirth of our first daughter. You another creature. And what do these parents imagine for the new arrival? What will they teach you? We do not have impossible dreams, castles in the air, we do not demand fortunes and impossible summits – they explain -. We teach Gloria the wonders of the little things, to savor the fortune of normality and to love many who fight every day for life. Like Sofia, his elder sister