I was feeling really depressed when this year's Secret Santa sign-ups came around. I just finished my last semester of college, graduating with a degree in creative writing, so I was nearing finals week when I entered in all of my information. I ended up babbling about my life in the likes/dislikes section until I hit the character limit. After I submitted it, I was worried I would come off as creepy or pathetic or what have you, but I didn't have the energy to go back and change it, and I figured, hey, more information is better than not enough, right?

I put "awesome" in the title of this post, and I mean both in the "yay this is great" sense and the older sense of awe: "a feeling of reverential respect mixed with fear or wonder." No fear, but lots of wonder: I am blown away that my SS put this much energy into creating such a custom, personalized, beautiful gift for a complete stranger.

I have my brother to thank, too - he's the one who had the idea to name our first cat Schrodinger, so to fit the theme, we all agreed on Newton for our second cat. Add those scientific names to my mention of my intense love for Breaking Bad, and what do you get? You get my cats in Hazmat suits, cooking up some meth - "crystal blue purr-suasion"! I can't wipe this grin off of my face.

The accompanying card is what made me cry, in a good way. My SS congratulated me on graduating and offered some words of wisdom, talking about escaping into their favorite books and movies while transitioning from college. And I'm just going to quote, because paraphrasing isn't good enough:

"I struggled and spent a lot of time imagining all the ways I could fail, making up reasons why I shouldn't do this or that, fearing the rejection of submitting a resume or entering a contest. What I learned is that you have to embrace that fear. It's empowering to know that you can take a hit and keep going. Embrace that fear and use your creativity to move forward. I'm saying all this because you seemed a little unsure about what comes next, and these are the things I would tell myself if I went back to the day I put on my cap and gown."

SS, I can't thank you enough. Everything you wrote was exactly what I needed to hear. Thank you for taking the time, and caring so much about the welfare of a stranger. Have the happiest of holidays. :D