I hope that people tell you how great your kids are. That you are doing a fantastic job at raising kind people in a world that needs it ever so desperately. I hope people stop you in the grocery aisle to tell you how awesome it is when the youngest one makes cute goober jokes and the middle one can’t stop giggling and the oldest one is like a compass, holding the True North because she grew up in a home that knows exactly which direction it is. I hope people tell you they saw the way you looked at each other like old friends, back before it all began and things were still quiet and the entryway wasn’t filled with shoes and bookbags. I hope people tell you that it’s just nice to be around you all because you make it feel welcome and fun and warm and grateful. And I hope people tell you these things often because it’s a hard job and sometimes you don’t know if you are doing it right and maybe you just need to hear that you were always on the right track. I know most of us do.

So.

I’m telling you today. And hopefully I’ll get to tell you next year too.

You guys are the good stuff.