Dear Future Madame President,
Selfishly, for the sake of my eighty-year-old mother who was emotionally invested in this past election for reasons that are obvious, I hope this finds you occupying a seat in a college classroom, a non-profit, the senate, or some other adult occupation at which you excel--and not a bouncy seat at a pre-school.
If you're currently a millennial well, I suppose that's okay seeing that makes you tech savvy enough to never get yourself caught up in any kind of email kerfuffle.
By the way, watch those selfies and delete your Instagram, Twitter and Snapchat accounts--they may come to haunt you.
That being said, a long and arduous path was cleared for you this year with the nomination of a woman by a major political party, so you can cross that milestone off your list. But don't worry, many more lay ahead.
It will be my great honor to call you Madame President. You are clearly a badass and I am humbled after witnessing the journey it took to get you here.
Just know, you have some pretty big heels to fill young lady. My wish is that you have the intellect of Hillary, the sass of Elizabeth Warren and the authenticity and oratory chops of Michelle Obama. I know this is a tall order but I think you're up to the task.
A few more things: Be unapologetically smart. Go ahead. We can take it.
But practice humility and for god sakes learn how to say "I f*ed up, I'm sorry, I was wrong." It forgives a myriad of sins and is even more rare than hearing the truth in Washington.
Please. Remain a student of history so you can learn from our mistakes.
We got so close this year and the loss still stings. Maybe we were overconfident. Maybe it just wasn't the right women. Maybe we underestimated the level of misogyny in our country. Perhaps we dropped the ball... Bigly.
You will bridge the divide. Without being perceived as harpy, bitchy or scary. YOU will be the "better angel of our nature."
Most importantly, what history and the next four years will come to show is that you can't keep women down. Numerous indignities have been heaped upon us over time and what did we do?
We got stronger. And we came back. With a vengeance.
Madame President, I trust you have had enough setbacks in your life to smooth out any rough edges--but not enough to put out the fire in your belly.
In closing, I wish you the winning trifecta of wisdom, intellect and wit--and the confidence to display them all in equal measure.
Most of all, and I'm sure I speak for women all over our great nation--I wish you grace.
May grace be your superpower and your co-pilot as you take on the Herculean task of being the most powerful woman on Earth.
Rest assured you have my unapologetic admiration and support until the day we finally meet.
With great anticipation,
J.B.