I have to constantly remind myself that balance is important. And thank you for the reminder about not losing the importance of spiritual well-being too, which is often the barometer of how balanced your life is, I think.

And what a treasure you have in that stepmother of yours! Such love and support are not something to be taken for granted. How blessed you are.

I believe that as long as we are learning and growing, we are living a beautiful life… and you are, so kudos to you, Mel! And never stop believing in yourself. Gretchen is absolutely right from what I can see.

Love you too… Kathi

And thanks for the mention of Jillian Michaels’ book. I’m a fan, and I own her nutrition book (which is a bit dry), so I was wondering if Unlimited would be worth getting. I just may check it out. Hoping it’s available for the Kindle.

Keep up the great work you’re doing on yourself! You’ve a lot to be proud of.

i love you. i’ve NEVER seen you as anything but sparkly, capable, honest, fair, pretty, curious, self metering, intelligent, open, feisty, snappy (usually an up/positive attribute, but, very rarely, the icky snappy!), kind, loving, gentle, thoughtful…need i go on?

all the bullshit you struggle with…………….i’ve heard all sorts of reasons from all sorts of people why you (and many many many many many people i know, myself included to an extent…not as bad though these days) do struggle…. i suppose i can see “those sides” of your life, genetics, circumstances, events, foibles, experiences…need i go on?

what i was trying to say on the phone the other day was….i love you! i have NEVER seen in you the things you seem to be wring you hands, mind and heart about. you are fucking legions beyond most humans that inhabit this singular life raft we refer to as a planet and always have been. if enough other people lived a life half as cool, introspective and respectfully as you, we might have a cold day in hell’s chance of making it as a species. but they don’t and i doubt it’s gonna happen anytime soon. so why do we expect others to treat us sanely? and even more to the point, why have we let their verbage into our heads? fuck ‘em.

i am sorry you got dealt a set of genes that caused physical differences in you than most other humans….if i could have bore (born? no pun intended, HA!) that burden for you i would have…as in any other burden i might lift from you because you are one of the few humans i truly give a shit about on MY flow through life. but, i can not. all i can do is to say, i love you, i acknowledge your journey and respect you all the more for seeing yourself and dealing with “that”, whatever “that” might be at the moment……and to scream, again, at the top of my heart and lungs, as always “YOU ARE WONDERFUL FINE AND LIGHT YEARS BEYOND WHAT YOU TELL YOURSELF”

i will love you till the day i die, gretchen (and maybe after too…who the fuck really knows!!!!)