THIS BOOK IS DEDICATED TO ME. ~ Beattie, Melody. Codependent No More: How to Stop Controlling Others and Start Caring for Yourself (Kindle Location 36). Hazelden Publishing. Kindle Edition.

Why dedicate a book? What is the purpose?
A name and often a message prefixed
to a literary, musical, or artistic production
in tribute to a person or cause.
Who would have the nerve to honor
not some mentor, a family member,
a friend, someone they respect?
Who has the hubris to write the words,
” THIS BOOK IS DEDICATED TO ME.”
Certainly not someone who is codependent,
“a psychological condition or a relationship
in which a person is controlled or manipulated
by another who is affected with a pathological condition
(such as an addiction to alcohol or heroin);
broadly:  dependence on the needs of or control by another.”
The dedication can be written only by one who can say,
“I take responsibility for my choices.”
It is someone with no need for
“the set of coping behaviors
we’ve come to label as codependency—
who learn what it means to take care of themselves.”
I hope it can become someone like me.