30 Days of Thankful: Day 17--Val

My Dear Sweet Miss,

Your friendship is invaluable. Thank you for adopting me just--wholly cow--SIX YEARS ago, really? Without your sense of humor and loving ways, I wouldn't have survived those years teaching...obviously, I lost my will to teach right after I left my wonderful team. Thank you for challenging me to be the best, fun, crazy, caring, responsible teacher I could be. Thank you for embracing my inner geek and helping me celebrate the crazy.

You inspired me then and you inspire me now, dear friend. Val, because of you, I write...a lot! Thank you for reminding me to embrace my talents and tackle my fears. Thank you for sharing your wisdom and heart with me. Most of all, thank you for sticking with me through all the ups and downs. Thank you for believing in me when I didn't believe in myself. It was an honor to read your novel, dear Friend. Thank you for trusting me with something so precious.

Val, thank you for getting me and being my "long lost fraternal twin sister by another mother and father." I always sit amazed at how our likes and dislikes are pretty much in sync to the nth degree. You make me feel like part of "normal" because I am not the only one that feels or thinks like this. Thank you...you make me normal!

I love you, Val. Your embracing me in the last few months has been my saving grace. Thank you for understanding this pain and helping me tackle surviving the rest of my life with this loss. Thank you for reminding me of what Gayla would tell me. Thank you for helping me shoulder this life.

All my love to you forever!

Your Mrs.,
Jaimee