Dear May,

There is a human tradition that always bothered me. We need to wait for occasions to tell extraordinary people that we love and appreciate them. My issue with this tradition is twofold: One is that we have to make it into a spectacle, people feel obligated to participate, sometimes force out sentences just to satisfy the significance of the occasion. My second issue is that it often comes too late. It always irritated me when people show up with love and affection after a celebrity passes for example, or when someone retires. How come we don’t show up when the person is there for us and needs to hear kind words.

For almost three years now, you have been there for every single person in this department, and knowing the type of person you are, most likely your kindness has reached far beyond the four walls of the center. When I went around asking everyone to sign this letter, every single person, without hesitation, immediately started talking about your generosity and willingness to help. I asked them to think of “catchphrases” you usually say to include, and the first one that came up was “let me fight for you.”

Kindness doesn’t come easy these days; in fact, it often comes at a cost. A person can only generate so much kindness without feeling depleted. To choose kindness can often be a solitary path. When you offer kindness, you offer pieces of yourself, a finite and precious resource. Yet you remain steadfast, even with the rushing current against you, you keep on fighting for all of us.

Above that, you are a genuinely talented person, and you went through a plethora of challenges to get where you are. I can’t even begin to imagine the pressure you are under. To care so valiantly about your team yet be placed under circumstance you cannot fully control.

Sometimes I wonder if you know how much we appreciate you and all that you have done for us. And for that we thought this might show just a miniscule token of our gratitude. Appreciation for the sake of appreciation, no occasions, no formalities.

With love and adoration,
Tarek