Dear Ms. Forde,

Thank you for everything that you have done to make my life the way it is now. There were many times when I felt like giving up but you help me keep going. You were there through the good and the bad. Because of the fact that I never really got to say to you thank you I want to say it now….THANK YOU!! You believed in me when nobody else did. Thinking about how today I am a better person because of you makes me smile.

People always questioned things that I did: if I tried hard enough or if I didn’t even want to do the stuff that I had to do. You were the one person in my life that really truly believed that I could do it. As I think about it, I hated that I didn’t always put in my complete effort. I hated that you had to ask more of me because I got lazy a lot. But I loved that the fact that even then you were there for me so that I wouldn’t have to stand alone.

I truly believe that there are no words that I can say that can actually equal what you have done for me. From the day that I stepped in the building of Jesuit High school till the day that I graduated, you tried to be a big part of my success. Even now when I feel like quitting, I don’t because I think about how much effort you put towards me and that makes me not want to fail so that I can come to you with something that shows my success.

T, age 21