Looking Forward

Dear Caroline,

The New Year always forces me to look back on the current year and look forward to the upcoming one. The year that was 2012 was full of quiet expectations with many of them not coming to pass. So no more resolutions for this girl! This year I think I’ll state my hopes for the New Year, as we are one year closer to your arrival.

• I hope for health, happiness, and harmony. I am considering adding more exercise into my life and being more responsible with taking vitamins and such. I hope for continued happiness within our marriage and improved harmony between our families.
• I would also love to travel more with Thomas before we have children. We’re making big plans. So big in fact, they are probably too huge to accomplish right now.
• The biggest goal I have for myself is to successfully graduate with my Master’s degree. I am really ready to be a college graduate-again!

Wish #66: I wish for you to be able to make goals and be responsible and hard working to accomplish them.

Love always

Settling DOWN and Growing UP

Dear Caroline,

Two thousand and twelve. This was supposed to be the last year on Earth according to the Mayans. But we survived the apocalypse safe and sound. After the year that was 2011, it was kind of a let down. A girl doesn’t get married, graduate, and start a full time job every day. This year was all about settling down and growing up.

I am now a second year teacher with such a fun and amazing little class. These kiddos are such personalities that it will be impossible to forget them. I can’t wait to continue to see them learn and grow. I love my job- most of the time.

I am also now a second year wife. We are still very happy and growing everyday. By no means is our relationship perfect, but what relationship is? We love each other very much and cannot wait for the rest of our lives together.

The biggest change in our lives is my enrollment in my Masters program. This was a decision that we prayed about, fought about, and even cried about. In all honesty, I never wanted to get my masters, but it was a great decision financially. I would rather be this stressed out before we have children and use the raise to prepare for you. It is not something that is easy, but things that are worth having never are.

Looking back at my resolutions, I didn’t accomplish any of them the way that I intended. I’ve read the right number of books, but it wasn’t over the course of the year. We are still not going to church or practicing the way I would like, and we still do not have joint checking. What can I say? We’re a work in progress.

Wish #65: I wish for you to be ever satisfied yet never finished growing.

Love always

Birthday Pity Party

Dear Caroline,

I would like to go on record for being the one person that hates their birthday. I’ve already talked about how I love to do birthdays big for family members and that is completely true. But I hate my birth date. That is because my birthday is on January 1^st aka the most inconvenient birth date besides Christmas. I am not going to lie, it is THE reason I wanted to get married in the summer.

I am not a materialistic person. I don’t own purses or lots of shoes or great clothes. I don’t wear jewelry, make-up, or perfume. What I like the most is being with my friends and family. But because my birthday is on a holiday it is always inconvenient for others to get together. I also hate the idea of postponing my birthday so I’m just out of luck.

My least favorite birthday occurred when I was turning six years old. My parents had decided (again) to postpone my birthday party with my friends until after the first of the year. We were going to celebrate at our local skating rink when…. Dun dun dun…. my mom discovered I had the chicken pox. It was miserable. I was itchy and scratchy and just gross. I remember being so upset that there would be no party because of the stupid pox. I was just flat disappointed.

Lately has also been a disappointment because Thomas has had to work every. single. birthday. that we have been together so my birthday has never been properly celebrated. I kinda hate my birthday.

Wish #64: I hope for you to have a nice, convenient birthday far away from Christmas.

Love always

Roots and Wings

Dear Caroline,

Heavy. That is the word that I would describe the kind of discussions Thomas and I have been having lately. I can’t deny it anymore… We are grown ups. We are so blessed to have found each other at such a young age, but because of that adulthood has kind of snuck up on us. I can’t believe that I’m at the age where we’re buying cars, talking pets, thinking about moving, and where we are going to live. And all of these decisions will affect you!

First and foremost, we bought your dad his first truck in quite some time. He loves it and we feel as though we got a great deal on it. But we might not feel that way come tax and title time!

We’re talking pets! At Thanksgiving we were blessed enough to be able to visit Thomas’ family in his hometown. His aunt had the most precious baby in the form of a Maltese puppy. (I guess I should be happy it wasn’t a real baby, huh?) Since then we’ve been doing research on bringing one into our family. I’d love a rescue but we’ll see. I’m not much of a dog person so I hope that this is a smooth transition.

The biggest and heaviest conversation of all is the idea of moving. Currently, we’re living in my hometown. I love the idea of roots and traditions. But I just cannot believe that this city is our forever city. We are both so ready for a new start nearer to a church community and the things we are interested in. There are also huge limitations living and working in a city where you grew up in that people still treat you like you’re sixteen years old. We’ve started looking at other areas in our state. We are prayerfully thinking and considering our options trusting in our Father the entire process. After all it isn’t just our future, but yours as well. You are so loved already baby girl.

Wish #63: I wish for you to have an avid and daily prayer life.

Love always

Reason for the Season

Dear Caroline,

Another Christmas has come and will soon be gone.

Christmas is a very complicated day for a lot of people, and I am beginning to think that I fall into this category. It is such a joyous time of year and that creates pressure for a perfect day.

I write letters to you to show you that the kind of person that I am now. And I am the kind of person that loves Christmas. I love the tree, the time spent with family, seeing the magic in my students’ faces, cookies, and the traditions. This can lead to expectations about the “stuff” of Christmas. This year we went without a lot of the stuff and I’ll be honest, I am disappointed. Christmas is one day out of the year that most people can expect to be happy. I wasn’t happy this year. This year I worked almost up til the date of Christmas and that might have had something to do with it. But I think that the most likely reason is that I’ve been focusing too much on the stuff and not on the reason for the season.

We have really gotten lax about attending church. I don’t think we’ve been since last Christmas Eve. We didn’t even read the story of the Nativity this year as a family. But more importantly, we’ve let the relationship go as well. Christmas isn’t about the stuff. Its about celebrating the relationship that began on this day all those years ago. As your mother, I hope to build up my relationship with the Creator that gave me the desire to make you a part of our forever family.

Wish #62: I wish for you to always remember the reason for the season even if it is hard.

Love always

Strong Women

My Dearest Caroline,

I’ve often joked with my family that I want sons so that I don’t have to share your dad’s attention. Lately I’ve been thinking about what it means to have boys versus girls and how to raise them differently.

Being a woman can be fabulous. I loved being dressy and girly in my life and don’t get me started on shoes. But I’m not your typical wife. I don’t clean or cook or censor myself in any way. Lately, I’ve been exposed to how men treat women like me. I have not been limited in my career path but I do believe that is because I am in a profession dominated by women.

Men don’t like women. Strong women anyway. Thomas and I were watching a documentary about books and stories that were banned from the Bible. The vast majority were about strong women that were threatening to the male hierarchy. This entire election can be summed up by how strong men hate strong women. Strong men want to limit the power of strong women. They want us to stay home and only have our mouths open for blowjobs or to complement them and to birth their strong children (though of course not out of our mouths, out of the other plaything). And other women encourage this! Even women’s magazines rave about how to be a dynamo in bed. I am more valuable to society than what my mouth and vagina bring to the table. I am a woman and have opinions, thoughts, and valid concerns that will be heard.

I have truly found God’s match for me. He doesn’t ask me to change or lie who I am and loves me as I am. God, I love that man.

Love always,

Wish #61: I hope not only that you will be a strong woman but that you will find the one your soul loves. 

Times are changin'

Dear Caroline,

This is my favorite kind of Saturday. It is fabulously football season. I am sipping my cran-apple juice watching retro MTV (which is how I know I am officially old) waiting on Thomas to wake up and for the game to finally start! We have a fairly normal day. We’re switching phone plans and officially sharing, getting a pedicure, and buying a new camera.

But it is days like today that reminds me how much I am happy with Thomas. It is just a lazy Saturday, but I am also beginning to grow into myself. I have decided that this is my time to make over my attitude and my life. I’m joining a salon to get massages, begin exercising, attending church more, sleeping more, and most importantly enjoying my life more! Life is too short to be miserable and complaining. Its time to start praying and getting to work.

Wish  #60: I wish for you have a hard-working spirit. If you don’t like something, change it.

Love always

Thank you, Fay

Dear Caroline,

In my latest this-is-way-overdue letter, we are currently underneath Hurricane Isaac. The last time I was in this position was about four years ago. It was one of the last times we were all together.

I was a sophomore in college. I had just chopped all of my hair off. I was newly friendless with everyone I knew from freshmen year continuing in my now former sorority while I had outgrown it. My grandfather had just been diagnosed with liver cancer. It was a very ugly, nasty place with an ugly, nasty haircut to boot. In August, I had moved into my first big girl apartment and then the Hurricane was coming! Hurricane Fay freaked me out and I headed home. In retrospect, it was a pretty dumb decision as Valdosta was better equipped to deal with the storm and I almost got stuck at my mom’s house. But it is an experience I would never, ever trade.

It got really, really ugly! This storm was a rainmaker and was the only time I remember trees falling. It was the first (and so far only!) time I’ve taken a shower in the rain. It was also the last time I really remember my granddaddy before he got really sick. Towards the end of his life, my granddaddy was on oxygen and when the power when out due to the storm, we were all very nervous. I remember having a blind panic. Luckily, my grandparents had a generator. We ended up riding out the storm in their house to make sure that the generator was working properly. We cooked and joked and played cards. We enjoyed each other. I think even then I knew that this time was to be enjoyed and savor because we were running out of time. That is never a good feeling.

I almost feel as though that time was a weird gift. It was a terrible time with the weather and the property damage was large, but it was time that I was given with my grandparents before they got really sick. And my granddaddy was gone the following April.

Wish #59: I wish for you to realize how just precious time can be.

Love always

Happy Birthday Thomas!

Dear Caroline,

Yesterday was your dad’s twenty-sixth birthday. What an old man he is becoming! We were discussing yesterday (on a plane!) how much we better we are together than we are apart and how true that really is.

So how to I say Happy Birthday the man I get to spend the rest of my life with? We began talking about your dad’s birthday in April. And we realized that we were in the position to take a little trip. When I asked Thomas what is the one place he has always wanted to visit he answered without hesitation, Washington DC. I have been twice before and really enjoyed and appreciated the history. Besides, Thomas deserves something nice!

We flew out yesterday and are staying in an amazing little village of shops and restaurants. Everything is within walking distance, which is a nice little plus. We’re planning on going to a brewery to really celebrate Thomas’ birthday. Right now we are chilling in our hotel room watching the opening games of the summer Olympics and thinking of you.

Thomas really wanted to come to DC to see the Declaration of Independence. When we first talked about coming here, he had tears in his eyes when talking about seeing that document that started our country. Because of one piece of paper, a country was born. Hearing him talk about it and get emotional/excited about it made me more excited to see it as well. Overall, it was an amazing experience that I am happy we got to share.

Later that afternoon, we had tickets to the capitol building to see where our laws are made. It was an interesting experience with a character of a tour guide. We learned some new things and overall really enjoyed today. After we had visited our “representatives”, we visited the Library of Congress. It was amazing! They had this exhibit of the books that shaped America. As a teacher, I was elated to see some of my favorites were represented including The Cat in the Hat and Where the Wild Things Are! They really did shape America.

We’ve had an excellent first day together in DC and are looking forward to a day in the Smithsonian museums tomorrow. But something was definitely missing. We were having lunch and began talking of the next time we visited. We both want to bring you here to introduce you to your country. I cannot wait to bring you here and show you THE documents that created it. We’re thinking of you sweetheart.

Wish #58: I wish for us to travel together as a family- and often!

Love always

Fireworks

Dear Caroline,

Happy Fourth of July, sweet girl. In my family, we don’t really do the Fourth big. I believe it has to do with our Christmas Eve traditions from when I was a little girl.

Christmas Eve was always spent with my dad’s family. We did a big dinner and presents with my Dad’s family. While I will always treasure that time with my family, we were all thinking about what was going on at my granddaddy’s house! Every Christmas Eve my grandma would make “fancy” appetizers (which blew my mind as a kid) and we would shoot off fireworks from their back porch. My cousins were mostly boys and would entertain us by blowing stuff up! We had the big fireworks and sparklers and firecrackers. I remember rushing through presents just to get home to watch the twins shoot off fireworks. Our neighbors and family friends would all come to watch our fireworks show. Was it different? Yeah, but that is my family. I wouldn’t trade it for anything.

Wish #57: I hope for us to develop our own family traditions even if they run five months too late!

Love Always

Catholic Education

Dear Caroline,

I am currently up to my ears in my Master’s program. I used to imagine myself in law school and in the courtroom battling it out for teachers and seeking justice. I got my first taste of that this week in completing case briefs for an assignment. 

A majority of the cases were about the “freedom” of religion in the classroom. While I love my job and the kids I have had the opportunity to teach, it became painfully obvious to me what is wrong with my job. While it is the prerogative of each individual person as to the depth of their religious beliefs and even to reject them at all, it is also my right to the same. I don’t believe that I am capable of divorcing my religious beliefs from my job. I like to think that I show Christ’s love every day in job even if I never use those words. I like to think that my love for Christ is reflected by my actions and how I walk.

I am sorry to say that things are very broken in our educational system and the cause is the lapse of morality the removal of religion has brought. The assignment just made it very clear to me as a Catholic that eventually I would like to teach in a Catholic school where my faith is needed and not to be hushed up. I cannot wait for the day when I can pray with one of my students because they asked me to and not have to tell them no out of fear of losing my job. I will promise you that you will attend a Catholic school because you deserve to be in an environment that shows you our faith and our values. I hope for you to be surrounded by children of faith in a setting that nurtures that instead of squashes it. That is my sincerest hope for both you and for myself.

Wish #56: I hope for you to understand the importance of being surrounded by faith.

Love always

The First of Many

Dear Caroline,

Today is our first wedding anniversary. I cannot believe one year has already passed. It has been an amazing year getting to know each other as a married couple.

When I look back on that day, I feel so warm because, even with the non-perfect parts, I remember feeling so loved. That day was the best day of my life so far and it was pretty close to perfect. I have never felt as beautiful as I did in my wedding dress. Thomas had never looked better than he did in his wedding suit.  It was a day surrounded by our friends and family. I wish we could do it all over to recapture some of those moments.

I’ve always heard the first year of marriage is the hardest. I’d like to believe that was true. Our first year was hard in that it was a huge adjustment. Not only was it our first year of marriage and living together, we also moved and started new jobs. I felt as though we were moving so fast trying to make a life together when everything had changed so quickly. Everything was so different. But we faced it together. I know that I married the right person. I believe that he is my other half and was made just for me. We are very blessed to have each other and so we celebrate today. Today is the day we remember our wedding and celebrate each other. And we have a lot to celebrate.

Wish #55: I wish for you to make it to your first wedding anniversary with love in your heart and hope for your future.

Love always

Bee a spellebrity

Dear Caroline,

This week is my favorite week in the year. It is Bee Week! The Scripps National Spelling Bee is something I have watched for six years now although I missed it last year because I was at my rehearsal dinner. Does it make me a bad person that I would rather have been watching than having dinner with my family? It was actually an argument for setting the date on June 25^th.

Why do I like it so much? I started watching six years ago when a boy I went to church with and babysat for was a participant. Granted he didn’t make it to the semi-finals but I was hooked. I guess it is the teacher in me, but it makes me so proud to see these kids, some as young as six, dedicate so much of themselves to something so many people don’t value anymore. With technology and typing, spelling skills are not valued as much as they used to be. I know that I am a terrible speller and it amazes me that these kids can spell these words! It blows my mind.

It starts out with various qualifying events from across the country and internationally. In Georgia, there are two final contests sponsored by the Augusta Chronicle and the Georgia Association of Educators. In all honesty, Georgian contestants don’t usually don’t last long. Although we do have one contestant still in play in the semi-finals. Once arriving in Washington D.C, all spellers take a written spelling test. Students that do well enough on the spelling test advance to the preliminaries. Everyone spells words and you aren’t necessarily eliminated because you miss a word. The top fifty students who advance to the semi-finals are eliminated from competition with the sound of a bell should they spell anything incorrectly.  The Finals are held at night on ESPN and are awarded $40,000 in prizes for spelling every word correctly. Below are some examples of winning words.

2008	guerdon	Sameer Mishra	Journal and Courier, Lafayette, Indiana
2009	Laodicean	Kavya Shivashankar	Olathe News, Olathe, Kansas
2010	stromuhr	Anamika Veeramani	The Plain Dealer Cleveland, Ohio
2011	cymotrichous	Sukanya Roy	Times Leader Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania

I really enjoy the Scripps National Spelling bee and would love to attend some day. I’m famous for it amongst my friends. I’m always getting kidded about it but it is so worth it.

Wish #54: I wish for you to be a halfway decent speller. Anything than my skills would be an improvement.

Love always

Ten Things

Dear Caroline,

Change is a part of life. I sometimes wonder what kind of person I will be in ten years when we meet. I know I won’t be the same. It won’t be possible. Reflecting on the kind of person a decade makes can be huge. So this is me… now. I wonder if these will still hold true ten years from now?

1. Cream cheese is my absolute favorite food. I make the best stuffed shells with cream cheese. This summer will be spent learning more cream cheese based recipes starting with Danishes. Yum!
2. I enjoy watching entire seasons of television shows on Netflix.
3. I get comfortable wearing the same sets of clothes and hate getting new ones.
4. I absolutely love my job- especially the summers off HA
5. I hate your dad’s job. He works nights and it is dangerous. I am so ready for him to find a more less-dangerous job.
6. I want to learn how to knit and crochet. I want to make baby booties, blankets, and maybe quilt like my grandmother. Maybe even your Halloween costumes. All of which are dying arts.
7. My new favorite color is yellow.
8. I’d like to get into gardening again. I’m thinking of starting small with maybe an herb garden.
9. My all time favorite song is “Somebody to Love” by Queen.
10. I am married to my best friend.

I can’t wait to learn your favorite color and song. The little things in life make a person.

Wish #53: I can’t wait to discover all of your favorite things.

Love always

Stupid

Dear Caroline and God our Father,

(I would just like to begin this letter by stating that this is in response to a television show I am currently watching and nothing to do with any person in my real life.)

I think teenage pregnancy is stupid. Majorly stupid. I think that all unplanned pregnancy is stupid but especially teenaged pregnancy. I think marriage in response to pregnancy is stupid.

I say this as a teacher and a Catholic. Babies and in turn children should be wanted. They should be cared for. They shouldn’t have to wonder where their dinner is coming from because their underage parents can’t afford to buy groceries for them. They should be able to enjoy their childhood instead of having to grow up so quickly to take care of the parents. Nothing in my life makes me more heartbroken than unwanted and uncared for children. And it isn't the government or the grandparents or great-grandparent's responsibility to care for them.You were wanted Caroline and I wish all children were.

I am currently watching Private Practice. This is the episode where two fifteen year olds get married (in a grand fashion, I might add) in response to a pregnancy. Everyone celebrates and gets excited despite the circumstances except Maya’s mother. She in turn is demonized and guilted into attending the wedding. What everyone doesn’t remember is that Naomi was being a good mother and tried to set boundaries and rules when Maya started dating and no one really took her seriously. It serves Maya right and when her prepubescent nuptials fall apart I hope she remembers her what her mother told her. I would not have signed the consent form for my fifteen year old to get married. I wouldn’t have paid for the wedding. And I wouldn’t attend it.

I make this promise to you as my mother made this promise to me; I will do my best to raise you up in the way of the Lord. I will do my best to instill in you morals and the laws of our Father in our best interest. Ultimately your choices will be yours. My mother made it very clear to me that my choices were also my responsibilities. Should you make a choice, that choice will be your responsibly. I will be responsible for my children and you will be responsible for yours. I will be a wonderful grandma, but I won’t be a second mother to them. That will be your job and responsibility. And I won’t celebrate your bad choices. I will help you through them and support you to make the best of the bad, but I won’t celebrate them.

Wish #52: Guard your heart, Miss Caroline. It will keep away the mistakes and the heartbreak.

Love always

Pomp and Circumstance

Dear Caroline,

Yesterday your Aunt Leah graduated from high school. The baby did good. My sister graduated with honors in the Class of 2012. She was amazing and enjoyed high school.

I love my family. My sister is one of the best people I know, as is my other sister. Leah and I are five years apart and in many ways we are very much alike. We get asked if we’re twins all the time. And I admit we favor. We have the same taste in movies, and whenever there is a good documentary on History channel, I can usually count on a watching buddy. We both enjoy reading and having deep conversations about our books. But when we were younger, whew! we did not get along. I’m sure if you have spent any amount of time with your Aunt Leah, she will not have wasted any time telling you about how her big sister used to torture her. I’m not sure how much time you will have spent with her, as she hates children. I hope as your grow up she gets over it and you will have a close, fun relationship with her. I know that I have!

As for your (potential) brothers or sisters, we have prayerfully settled on their names. Should you have a sister, her name will be Avery Ann. And if you have brothers, their names will be Robert Jude and Gabriel Arthur. I’ve had a feeling that I will have boys if we ever have biological children. Twins actually. Those are just very premature feelings at this point as we’re not considering have children for at least another eight years. Nor do I want to even consider it. But you must know by now how I feel about dreams!

I am so proud of my baby sister and I cannot wait to be in that moment with you as graduate from high school and college and graduate school and any terminal degree you might pursue. Too soon? Okay let’s focus on getting you here first. Love you baby girl.

Wish #51: I wish for you to remember that not all sibling relationships start out close. Sometimes you need some space and distance to appreciate your family.

Love always 

Mother, Mama, Mom, Mommy

Dear Caroline,

Today is Mother’s Day. I have been blessed with a great mom in many ways. She sacrificed so many things to make sure we were well cared for. She stayed home with us. She played with us. She tucked us in bed and prayed with us each night. She volunteered in our classes and read to us. She did birthdays big. She baked our cakes and let us have sleepovers. She made us feel loved and special. She is my mom and we’re blessed to have her.

I often wonder what makes a mom. Are you a mom when your baby is born? If that is the answer I could be a mom relatively soon. Are you a mom when you find out you’re pregnant? Then I won’t ever be a mom. Are you a mom when you hold your baby for the first time? That is a long way off. I don’t think any of those situations is when you become a mom. I think the answer is when you sacrifice and hold love for your child. I think am already your mom. In my heart I am already a mother to you.

As this Mother’s Day passes, as will another eight or more without the title, I look to some of the other mothers who perhaps are falling down on the job. I am a teacher and I get called mommy or mama at least once a day by sweet little angels whose most important person in their little world is their mom. Over the years I’ve seen little angels whose wings have been bent by their mommies and it makes me sad. The kids with the great moms draw pictures for her every day. Their paintings feature their moms. Every thing we make is followed by “Can I give this to my mom?” Being a mom is about love, responsibility- not because you have to but because you want to, and sacrifice. I can see you in our lives and cannot wait for your arrival and the official title.

Wish #50 (We’re half way there!): I wish for you to have a wonderful independent adult family that includes the title if you’d like it. If you are the person I raised you to be and you’d like to have children, you’d be a great mom.

Love always 

No News is Good News

Dear Caroline,

I have been hesitant to write you lately mostly because of bad news. I didn’t want to write to you too complaining. Perhaps I know that in twenty years it won’t matter or perhaps I don’t want to acknowledge that I am weak. Many things have gone wrong in the last couple of weeks and it has really put us in a tailspin. Stupid petty things like cars breaking and fridges crashing. I feel like screaming may day, may day we’re going down! I have been very blue about our circumstances and very short sided about our future. I don’t want to burden you with our petty problems and no news is good news, right? We love you sweetheart and pray for you every night. I want you to know me. The real me. The uncensored un-mommy me. Maybe this blog needs some real life problems injected in because cars break and fridges full of food will crash and you can get behind on work and kids will give you stomach viruses. And all of these things add up to feeling very blue. I really am sorry for not writing more often and hope to do better even if our circumstances do not improve. I promise to be more honest because I want you to be honest with me. Love you baby girl and see you soon!

Wish #49: I wish for us to share each other’s lives.

Love always

Showing Heart

Dear Caroline,

My goodness, I’ve been a neglectful mommy lately! This month has been crazy with my work schedule as our school year is quickly coming to an end. I cannot believe that the first (and hardest) year is coming to a close. I should have more time coming soon to write more often.

But this issue was too important to miss no matter how busy my schedule might be. I learned the single more important lesson a teacher can learn today and it is one that I think everyone who has a hand in education should remember. When I was a little girl and a student myself, I was the oldest and bit of a perfectionist. I wanted all A’s on my report cards. My mom always demanded excellence but always reminded us all that attaining our personal best was more important. I remember coming home with a C on a math test and was so upset and embarrassed especially because I had spent hours and hours preparing for the exam and still, in my eyes, had failed. My mom reminded me that God gives us all unique talents and math might not be mine. I was doing my best, my sincere best, and to her that C made her just as proud as any of my other grades. I was reminded of this lesson today. Heart and scrappyness is not something to be ignored, but celebrated. Trying and effort is just overlooked in the “Race to the Top” It makes me so sad that kids who genuinely try and repeatedly fail will give up unless their efforts are celebrated.

Wish #48: I wish for you to always show heart and try 110%. And I promise to notice.

Love always