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Dear Tara, For 7 years you have held space for me to come as I am, with an open invitation to sit on your couch in the historic Flood Building, and unpack my thoughts and feelings in safety. You have been a refuge for my experiences; bad dates, and real love. Friendships made, friendships lost. Jobs earned, and jobs lost. You listened with patience to story after story of disappointment, victory, and everything in between. Today was our last in-person session for the foreseeable future, and it didn’t seem right to leave San Francisco without a proper note of gratitude. Thank you for everything. You taught me what it means to trust the process; to hold my precious life with care and compassion, and to allow my strengths and experiences to guide me when it was time to course correct. You helped me see where forgiveness held power, and how a healthy boundary can set in motion a new, more satisfying dynamic in any relationship. You remember so much about my life! Details that most would have long ago forgotten (even me, on occasion!). Everything from which friends to recommend as a salve for any scenario, to the accountability of my own words. Oh, I guess I did say that. Thank you for understanding and enjoying my sense of humor -- laughter is how I connect with people, and your generous laugh was always appreciated. I don’t know what walls or boundaries therapists and clients are technically supposed to have with one another...each on their respective couches, one with a notepad, the other mindlessly playing with the zen garden while she rambles, kinda thing...but I am glad you snuck through, and over them. I loved hearing your personal stories from the adventures of your life. Please know they were always shared in absolute, appropriate service of me, and helped me to feel less alone. More than once you became openly teary-eyed on my behalf, in both shared joy as well as sorrow. The vulnerability of this did not go unnoticed. You have held me - not only in the energetic sense, but physically held me, Tara. Last year when I came to your office for an “emergency” session, after the cracks in my life fully expanded with a shattering boom, exposing a lot of hidden pain, you held me on your couch while I sobbed. While I buried my face in my hands, shaking, you wrapped your arms around me and just held me. Thank you for having the courage and the instinct to do that. Thank you for encouraging me on my own path of life coaching; for being a mentor, a cheerleader, a sounding board for ideas, hopes, fears, successes and struggles. When you told me you loved me as a client, but would hire me on your coaching team in a second if we didn’t already have our existing relationship I felt a sense of absolute pride. You believed this work was the calling of my soul, and it helped me to feel it breathing there, too. Thank you for everything, Tara. I am a better human because of our work together. Braver, kinder, unashamed. I hope to make you proud. With Love + Gratitude, Trish 
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