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You must do the things you think you cannot do. – Eleanor Roosevelt

olive | You feel things deeply, and for being still so small, you often express yourself with equal emotion and zeal. Don’t ever wish it away or believe that you are too much. Your spark is a gift, one intended to bring life.

blythe | You turned nine this week. As we sat around the dinner table, telling you the reasons we’re grateful for you, your face and spirit came alive.  We love you, and it’s just so beautiful watching you grow into yourself.

burke | You are a quiet, deep thinker, something I’ve always appreciated about you. I love seeing you learning to take time away from the crowd, learning to give space for that which nurtures your heart. You’re almost finished memorizing Kipling’s If. Last night, you told Nina your favorite line is “If you can dream and not make dreams your master / If you can think and not make thoughts your aim.” A fitting answer, I think.

liam | There is a hidden light and wisdom in you, currently cloaked in glasses and braces and boyhood.  As Paul once said to Timothy, “Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity.”