To all the people I love:

Thank you. Thank you for being you. Thank you for being so wonderfully human that I cannot help but love you. I love you for you. All of you. I love you with every fabric of my being. I love you and all of your flaws. I love you unconditionally. I cannot mention unconditional love without mentioning God. Without God, my soul would not be capable of admiring the glowing gift that is your soul. He taught me how to love, and with His grace, I love you. You may not know that I’m talking about you. Yet I am. I love you. I love you for the time that I was crying at the sight of my dead grandmother and you were holding my hand, asking if I needed to leave. I love you for the smile that beamed across your face the first time I caught a softball the correct way. I love you even though you ignored all three of my snapchats. I love you because you’re loud and crazy. I love you because of how aggressive you are in sports. I love you because despite all of your downfalls, you just have a way with words. I love you because even though I wrote something that I felt was awful, you still shared it. I love you because you love me even when I’m obsessed with irrelevant boys. I love you even on the days when I do not love myself. I love you even when you do not love yourself. I love you even when you think you’re fat. I love you when you laugh. I love you when you cry. I love you so much it hurts. I love you even when you lose your job. I love you even when you won’t stop posting on facebook. I love you for liking all of my instagram posts. I love you for taking the time to read this. I love you for following me all around town while I played on playgrounds and bought ice cream that I didn’t eat. I love you for giving me high fives everyday in the hallway. I love you for calling me Kat, and saying that I'm a bro. I love you for inviting me over even if you don't like me that much. I love you for showing love to me. I love you for the advice you gave me that night at the bonfire. I love you for picking me up even if you say I can't take a joke. I love you for calling yourself a pale and clumsy human being. I hope you realize you are beautiful. I love you even if you’re driving around talking behind my back. I love you despite all of the information you refuse to share with me. I love you even though you won’t take me to that restaurant. I love you for being such a kind human. I love you for being so motivated and hard working. I love you for giving me a ride at two in the morning. I love you for taking me home to my brother. I love you for making me feel better, and laughing with me. I love you for telling me that it makes you sad to see me sad. I love you for not realizing that I’m more often sad than not. I love you for trying to make me happy. I love you for standing back and watching me shine. I love you for loving the same music I do. I love you for loving horses. I love you for going to that concert with me. I love you for listening to me endlessly rant about how amazing my family is. We are all human. We all have our bad days. We all feel intense joy and unbearable sadness. We all love. We love romantically, and get our hearts broken. We love like brothers. Sometimes we break each other’s trust. Sometimes we make each other laugh. The point is, even if I haven’t talked to you in years, I still think about you. I still care about you. I love you. Whether you are a cousin or if you’re that boy from fifth grade, I wish nothing but the best for you. I hope you wish the same for me. Never ever forget that you can do marvelous things, if only you allow yourself to do so. Much love, Kateri.