so many heroic women.

I knew when I decided to do this particular contest that it would be a very difficult decision for me to make about who should win.  I can't imagine going through what some of these strong, tender, caring, gracious, and giving women have been through.  For some of them, life hangs in the balance every day and for others they know all too intimately the value of the life that surrounds them.

Thank you all for your nominations.  The beauty and struggle of each of them is not unnoticed and I wish there were a way for me to give this gift to all the women that were nominated. Thank you for sharing with me the love and heartfelt words about the women that are in your life.

I was tempted to have all of you vote for the person that should win but couldn't do that.  I have no idea how any of you would be able to measure one of these women against another...I wanted you to vote so that I wouldn't have to choose.  And then I decided I couldn't do that to you or to these sweet women.

And so...I've been sitting and wondering who to give this gift.

...and a long time later...I still haven't published this post...

I decided to narrow the nominations to 4 women.  After going back and forth, I decided to put the four women in a hat and choose.

The winner is:

Jana Kofford.

I would like to nominate my friend Jana Kofford. Jana tragically lost her four year old son Cooper this summer, something that as a mother I cannot imagine experiencing. While going through the many difficulties that attended the tragedy of her son's death, Jana has been a beacon of hope, thoughtfulness and strength. Jana is a brilliant business owner, a thoughtful friend, a loving wife and a fantastic mother of six! If anyone needs a night of pampering it is Jana Kofford and her sweetheart Quinn.

Ashley, please send me an email at davina at davinafear dot com so that we can let Jana know she's won.

The other 3 women:

Rachael Schirano.

I nominate my beautiful wife Rachael Schirano who day in and day out, sacrifices her personal needs and sanity to ensure that our family of six (including teenage daughter and 2 yr old triplets) is happy and healthy. If that isn't enough, she has battled several large obstacles in pursuing her passion for photography, and I feel that she could use a little light at the end of the tunnel for all that she does for us.

Nancy.

I'd like to nominate my sister, Nancy. She has given of herself for a year and a half to take care of her daughter with leukemia, as well as be there for our dad who recently died of cancer. She has rarely had time for herself or alone time with her husband since this all began.

Ginger Coates.

I nominate my wife, Ginger Coates.  She has been working full-time as well as helping to care for my daughter (her step-daughter), Melinda that has the begining stages of MS.  In her spare time she has been volunteering her time at her church's girls group so we can spend more time with Melinda that has kept her very busy that she needs a break. 

To those who nominated the above  three women, please send me their mailing address.  I would like to send them a little something.

I've also decided to send a kit to Marta as a gift because of this nomination:

Marta.

I am nominating Marta, a woman I don't even know. She responded to my blog and this really tugged at my heart. These two sentences say it all:
"I recently started doing photography for experience and extra money, but it took off faster than I was prepared for. I was soon pulling all nighters (once I stayed up over 38 hours, skipped 2 classes just to get caught up) and booking up to 6 photo shoots a weekend.... it started interfering with my relationship with my husband real fast, my 3 year old daughter was going to bed at night crying that she missed me and she didn't want me to do pictures anymore."

*Marta, I feel the pain that you are going through and I want to say that things will get better….

Thank you to eveyone who participated in this contest.  I've been moved by the stories of these beautiful women and the lives that they are heroically living. 

beautiful. LIVES.