The thought of leaving has crossed Sophie’s mind, albeit briefly. She is a fourth generation Detroit native, making Grant a fifth generation native. Detroit is more than a city, it is a family member. Despite the loyalty rarely being returned, Sophie is a very loyal person.
People often talk about having the courage to pack your bags and move to a new city. The truth is sometimes it takes more courage to stay in the same place and know that somewhere else will not make all your problems disappear.
If there is any truth to the sort of idea that God gives extra doses of things to certain people, there is little doubt that Sophie was given an extra dose of courage. Most of the time, Sophie lives in fear. It seems ironic that she would possess any courage at all.
It is hard for anyone to grasp that courageous people are not the brave ones. Far from it. Courage finds people when they are scared. Brave people seem to have no use for courage, because they know they can do things on their own.
I have lost Greg. I have lost my friends…Detroit is dying. What about Grant? God knows what I would do without him. I am barely hanging on, there is not much left to lose.
There hardly is anything that she is not scared about. The idea of being a widow and a single mother had scared her. Actually, it still does. She was scared of having no community. Scared of what Detroit was becoming. Scared that somehow she could lose Grant.
Scared. Scared. Scared.
Sophie lives a life that requires much courage which is what makes her so courageous. Courageous people are not those who possess no fear, but those who go on with life in spite of it.
In fact, few, if any, courageous people would tell you they were courageous. They almost always appear terrified at first glance. That is probably because they are.
No one is certain, but it could be that she loves Detroit so much because cities rarely die. They go through highs and lows, but they survive each point to see the other come around. She needed to love something that could not die because everything else seems to have already passed on.
Like a boxer standing in the middle of a prize-fight, Sophie stood in the ring with Grant hanging on for the ride. With each blow, they kept punching back even if they only hit air because that is precisely what fighters do; they fight back.
