I like the way that you try really hard, even when you don't feel like trying. I like that you've been pursuing a graduate degree in the liberal arts, when so many people in life might hypothetically pipe up to tell you to do something safer and simpler. I like that you had a child at a grown-up age, and that you've taken such delight in her.

I think you're very bright and witty, and that you have a huge caring streak. I think that you're probably a lot more self-aware than you were a decade ago, which is not an evolution that happens for everyone.

I like the way that, deep down, I think that you recognize that life is not perfect, and that you make of it what you can. I like that you try consciously to balance faith and compassion with the tugs and pulls of life. I like that you're so loyal to your family members. I like that your heart appears on your sleeve a surprising amount of the time.

I like that you keep getting up, after things that knock you down. I like that you're going to keep on slogging, and my wish for you is that you slog on through, and don't let the bastards get you down.

I like that you went on a kind of detective search of self-discovery, and discovered, perhaps, that what you discovered was not so much you as a piece of history, of great interest, but not really the field upon which the ballgame of your life is played.

I like that you have high standards of yourself and of others. I like that you know that you have to cut people slack sometimes anyway.

If the world were populated by clones of you, it might not be a perfect world, but it would be a better world.