Sometimes I read or observe things here that fill me up so much that I cannot fend off the need to say so. And I want to express them to you as well as to show you how you both have impacted me personally, how all of these things have converged in such a way to help me. I see here how openly loving and generous you have been here both to Boje and his son. I admire those qualities in people more than any amount of intellectual prowess or bravado. There are people who see open displays of friendship, of appreciation, of admiration as fatal design flaws. They see love as a deficiency.

The ability to love is not a weakness. It is, in my view, the only real measure of internal strength and character.

Love between friends is the spark that fires compassion and courage. It makes us suspend (here) our board persona's for the good of another. It makes us ACT.

Love between friends is what makes us lay aside our pride to take a chance to resolve matters of conflict. Or to apologize when it is due.

Love is what makes us assume the best in others and look for the good in people and to help people to see the good in themselves when they have been made to feel devalued.

Love is what makes us reach beyond the last point of contention, the last rift between friends, to close the distance between eachother so we can continue on.

Strong women, in my estimation, are not afraid to assert themselves strongly in forthright debate (here) or to reveal the soft places in full view of others, for they know that one does not cancel out the other. They know that these are parts of the whole, that make us authentically female. Finding that balance, that confidence, is the success of a woman.

I just want you to know how much I admire your courage, your strength and your gentle hearts. The writers of the Bible encourage us to develop the capacity to love above all else. Love does not dismantle, it builds. The hand that rocks the cradle may rule the world, but I say that the heart that loves--feeds the world. Today you both unintentionally fed me.

Recent events here and elsewhere in my life have contributed to my thoughts on love and how important it is. But it was watching your interaction concerning Boje that put the pen in my hand. (I often write on paper first when I feel this way).

Somehow, I saw parts of myself in you and while of late, those parts have been used to diminish me and ridicule me, your gestures helped me to regain my own focus, to come full circle, and to let my heart talk openly to you about it. You helped me to remember that I, like you, am a builder.

With Gratitude,
Vicki