Dear Ashley,

They say the eighteenth birthday is a end and a beginning; it is the beginning of responsibility for your thoughts and actions, a sowing of the proverbial seeds which will blossom into your future successes. And alas, from the boy we all watched grow from a wide-eyed, inexperienced greenthumb to a veteran of the harshest trials and tribulations has emerged a friend who has stood by us, shared our most sorrowful tears and most joyous hurrahs. And just as the proud lion sprouts a glorious mane, so have you grown your own mane of hopes and fears, and of all the experiences you have gone through. It is this mane which you will proudly show to all you meet; to all who gaze upon your life and cannot help but ask the origin of your strength, fortitude and resultant success.

As you walk down this road in life, know that you are not alone; that your friends will always be with you; that our love and concern will be your armor in the fiercest of battles, your shelter in the harshest of weather; your lifelines when the music stops (and the words disappear). Our friendship is like the ship that never sinks, and know that it will always port at the dock of our memories.

Who knows what the future will bring for you? It is not for us to know. Rather, the future is for us to reach out and shape with our own hands. And indeed, all of us sincerely hope that you will grasp the future with the hands of your will, and shape it into something of true beauty. From here on, you need only exhibit to the world the ability we have all known you to possess since we first met you, remembering with every step that you have friends who care deeply for you and always will.

wow okay this COMPLETELY makes up for me not having pictures of you.

also, nice catch.

who else but,
wenzhe (: