Dearest Chichi

Dearest Chichi,

Ten years ago, I knew you as a colleague and a leader.  You weren't my boss but I looked up to you as such because (1) I hated my boss and I wished I was in your team instead, and (2) I saw how effective you were at managing your people.  I once said to myself, "I want to be like her someday--someone that people look up to, someone very well-respected, one who can laugh and joke around with the team and yet still take charge so not under any circumstances one would mess with you!"

I have to admit that you intimidated me.  You are so smart that I had to tiptoe in front of you so I won't say or do something stupid.  I had to behave myself every time you came to the US office because I wanted you to see only the good in me and not the bad, afraid that you would judge me or think of me as one of those young and inexperienced, too eager to conquer the world yet too clueless of life's realities that lies shortly ahead.

But the more I knew you, I learned how young you are at heart, how you sometimes like what we mere humans like, how you love to dance, how humble you are at admitting that you'd rather wash dishes than cook, and how you have a soft spot for your kids and for the many people that you care about.

It never dawned on me that someday we would still be talking and exchanging messages and reading each other's journals.  But after all that I've done and all that I've been through, you were one of those who remained supportive. You understood my choices and stood by me when others didn't.  I made many mistakes yet I never saw you pointing a finger at me.

So how can I forget?  How can I not be grateful to you for treating me the way you treat me?  How can I not be humbled that the person I look up to reads my blogs, makes my photo one of her favorites, sends encouraging and flattering comments on my Facebook page, and appreciates what I do as a woman, a worker and a mother.

I still look to you as a colleague and a leader--that will never change.  But now I also look to you as a good friend, an inspiration, a mentor, a great coach, a light at the end of a tunnel, a rainbow after a storm,  a dream come true! You are farther from us than you've ever been, yet you've never felt closer. And for this, I couldn't thank you enough.

Happy Birthday, Chichi!  My wish for you is that you'll find whatever it is you're seeking for. I think you may already have.  And that every single one of those things in your reveries be yours one of these days.

HAPPY, HAPPY BIRTHDAY and THANK YOU for being the wonderful person that you are!

Sincerely,
Liza