I want you to know that I see you, I admire you, and I cherish you. I feel blessed and honored to know you. You make me thrilled to be alive, glad to be in the throes of the sacred messiness of this human life, and enthralled by this beautiful dance that we are all breathing into and living together.

My father loved me dearly. He provided for me, and tried his best to protect me (even when I didn’t want it or fought it). He wanted the best for me, encouraged me to pursue my passions and follow my dreams, and told me he was proud of me. I loved my father, and I know he did his best, even as he fought his own internal battles.

It is the many other men in my life, though, to whom I am deeply and eternally grateful. Thank you for the gift your presence in my life has been and continues to be. My life is better because of you. In more ways than I can express.

Thank you for wanting to protect me — and the other women you care for — in big and little ways. Thank you for walking me to my car or door, waiting for me to hail a cab before leaving, watching to see me start my car or open the door to my home before you drive off, asking me to text you to let you know that I arrived safely at my destination. Thank you for walking on the street side when we walk together, for wanting to help solve problems you see me facing, for offering your coat when you see I am cold. Thank you for honoring the boundaries that I set, and for your impulse to step in on my behalf when you see someone else push those boundaries. Thank you for feeling enraged on behalf of all women when you hear of men who use their strength to harm us. Your desire to protect me and all my sisters makes me feel cared for and safe and cherished.

Thank you for showing up to support me as I pursue my passions and for letting me know that you love to see me succeed and shine. Thank you for offering to help me think through problems or design strategies or implement tactics. Thank you for offering to be a thought partner as I do my work. Thank you for sharing your thoughts and ideas and stories of what has worked for you. Your support bolsters my resolve and my confidence in my ability to reach my goals.

Thank you for your solid presence. Thank you for moving toward me when you see my tender heart exposed, for offering your broad shoulders and your solid yet gentle embrace for me to relax into when I need to cry or grieve or fall apart so that I can eventually put myself back together again. Your masculine presence allows me to drop into my feminine energy, even in this culture that is so attuned to the masculine way of being.

Thank you for inspiring me to push myself by clearly and straightforwardly laying forth the challenges inherent in our common goals and trusting me to do what I need to prepare myself to show up in service of those goals. Thank you for being an example of the power of focusing fully and completely on one thing at a time. Your modeling and your faith in me inspire me to want to do and be even better.

Thank you for encouraging me to do what I need to do to take care of myself by getting enough sleep or exercise or time with friends. Your encouragement reminds me that it’s okay for me to stop focusing on others’ needs to take care of myself so that I can show up with you and the other people I love in the way that I truly want to.

Thank you for championing me. Thank you for patiently teaching me things I didn’t — and needed to — know. Thank you for believing in me in moments when I have forgotten that I am fabulous exactly as I already am. Thank you for reflecting back to me who you know me to be in the moments when I somehow lose sight of the fact that I have always been whole and beautiful and worthy of love. Thank you for letting me talk and talk until I’ve gotten out of my system whatever I’ve been carrying around inside without trying to fix it all for me or even with me. Your willingness to stand up for me models for me how to stand up for myself. Your ability to stand with me reminds me that we are all connected and I am never alone.

Thank you for advocating for me, for using your strength and your skills and your time to help me, even when I didn’t know how to ask for help, even when I mistakenly thought I had to figure it all out on my own, even when I wasn’t particularly gracious at receiving your generosity. Please know that I did and do appreciate your help! Knowing that you have my back and have my best interest at heart allows me to breathe more easily and be more creative.

Thank you for making my life easier: by opening doors for me and offering to help me carry things, by willingly taking on tasks that you know will lighten my load, by helping me put on my coat, by reminding me that given how easily I get cold, it might be wise for me to bring along an extra layer of clothing or a warm hat! Your attentiveness makes me feel honored and adored.

Thank you for the very many ways in which you provide for me. Thank you for providing things as concrete as a place to stay or a delicious meal and things as ephemeral as a moment to watch the sunset together or the question “How are you?”. If you really knew how much your presence in my life adds to my life, you would spend every day proud to be the man you already are.

Thank you for caring enough to learn about the things that matter to me or delight me, and for doing what you can to bring more of those things into my everyday life. I, too, care about you.

Thank you for recognizing that we are different and for embracing that those differences are beautiful and worth cherishing. When you see and honor the feminine in me — my empathy and intuition, my vulnerability and compassion, my aliveness and creativity, my playfulness and generosity, my gentleness and nurturing, my emotional sensitivity and open heart — I feel my entire being soften and relax. I feel myself gaining even more access to all of those qualities. I feel my heart expand, my being overflow with love and joy, and my spirit shine.

We all need each other. We, women, need you, men. Just as we open your hearts and make you feel even more alive, you amazing men light us up. You light me up. You make me feel honored to be here on this planet, in your presence, sharing this world, this space, this dance with all of you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you!