This morning I received the accompanying photo from my friend Sandy Pinchback, a recently-retired AP English teacher. As former colleagues at Lake Orion High School for fifteen years, Sandy and I share a long history of professional collaboration regarding literature, composition, and engaging young adults in meaningful classroom experiences.

She and I also share a deep personal connection that transcends our different generational origins. We are — in her words — each other’s Anam Cara, or soul friend. (Anam Cara refers to a Celtic spiritual belief about the way souls can connect.) In world view, we are closely aligned; we subscribe to compassion and cooperation more than capitalism and competition. Education, psychology, and creativity are subjects we savor. And we possess a firm conviction that people possess value regardless of their job title, social position, or economic means.

Like me, Sandy is a journal writer. She granted me permission to share this image, one that captures an entry created several months ago. She found herself re-reading this short piece as she sat at the Whistle Stop Diner in Birmingham, sipping coffee while planning the rest of her Monday schedule.

I appreciate the smooth curves of Sandy’s penmanship, the texture of the paper, and the mixture of humor and seriousness contained in her entry.