Darlin' Maeve,

'Let kindness come with every gift...' I'm borrowing a few words from a Christmas Eve prayer, hoping you won't mind just as I'm hoping you're doing as I've asked and taking a few moments to open this prior to attending midnight mass celebration. Sitting here writing this to you, I'm filled with a lot of thoughts, many prayers, and a mix of emotions-all of them for you. Please take them with the kindness they're meant.

Thinking of how you told me your intentions for this evening. Thinking about how, though we're some miles apart, we'll both be participating in the same mass, with the same psalms and readings-together at a distance, it's a nice realization. I'm praying you find that connection you're looking for with your father, with your church, with your congregation as you celebrate. Praying you allow yourself all the grace while you wend your way though exploring faith. Feeling happy you're doing this for yourself. Feeling confident you'll discover some of the comfort you seek and the answers you crave. Feeling blessed that I get to know you through some part of this brave and beautiful thing you're beginning.

Too, I'm thinking the contents of this box you'll open may need a little explanation. A rosary. You're only now wading into these mysteries and these joys. I went with pink because the color reminds me of you, your hair, the apples of your cheeks after you've been on a laughing jag in a karaoke bar. A slightly more modern aesthetic to match your vibrant sense of style, your warmth, your joy, your playful nature. Roses because one of the first conversations we had has stuck with me (you're covered in roses, you're covered in ruin, you're covered in secrets). A song about Our Lady, who is so much the center of it all. A strong woman, Holy Mary, Mother of God. And the medal of St.Therese of Lisieux, so venerated and so full of love, someone whose approach to God (I can't wait to tell you about how she wanted to reach Heaven) I think you'll come to appreciate. Only fitting, I hope, as your many questions put to me have been about the role of women in the church.

More than any of this, however, I'm wanting you to have a Merry Christmas filled with the love of those around you, and to know that you're very much on my mind.