Happy Galentine's Day! Consider this the letter version of me grabbing your arm across a brunch table and saying, "Okay, I need you to know something."
Here it is: I am so proud of you. You opened your own bakery this year. Your own bakery! I think about that and get a little giddy every time. You took something you love and built a real place out of it, with your name on it and everything. I hope you let yourself feel how big that is, even on the flour-covered, exhausted days.
I also want to say thank you for being exactly who you are. You are loyal down to your bones. You are one of the funniest people I know. And you are brutally honest about haircuts, which I mean as a compliment, because when you tell me something looks good, I believe it completely. Everyone deserves a friend who will tell them the truth and then still drive them to karaoke.
Speaking of which, I love our thrift store runs, our terrible reality TV, and every off-key song we have ever belted out together. Nobody else can make a bad show and a bin of mystery sweaters feel like such an event.
It all goes back to tenth grade chemistry, when we were assigned as lab partners and laughed so hard they had to split us up. Honestly, I think that was the best experiment we ever ran. It still works. We can go months without talking and then pick up mid-sentence, as if no time passed. That is the safest, coziest feeling I know, like walking into a warm kitchen where the light is always on and someone has saved you a seat.
Whatever comes next for the bakery and for you, I will be cheering the loudest from the front row. Keep a stool at the counter for me.
You are my person, Maya, and I am so glad you are my friend. Thank you for being exactly you.
