On the flip side, sometimes it takes something like what you dealt with in the photography contest to help put the importance of what you do in perspective. And never during the time that you were dealing with that did I see you as having in any way having sold out. Yes, you “played the game,” but I felt that you were at least trying to bring something great into the contest by not playing the same way so many others did.

You played by the rules you set for yourself, never submerging yourself into the morass that the contest became. And even though you may not see it that way, I am proud of you for the woman that you are and for the photographer and person you want to be.