black coffee, please.

         @\_______/@
        @|XXXXXXXX |
       @ |X||    X |
      @  |X||    X |
     @   |XXXXXXXX |
    @    |X||    X |             V
   @     |X||   .X |
  @      |X||.  .X |                      V
 @      |%XXXXXXXX%||
@       |X||  . . X||
        |X||   .. X||                               @     @
        |X||  .   X||.                              ||====%
        |X|| .    X|| .                             ||    %
        |X||.     X||   .                           ||====%
       |XXXXXXXXXXXX||     .                        ||    %
       |XXXXXXXXXXXX||         .                 .  ||====% .
       |XX|        X||                .        .    ||    %  .
       |XX|        X||                   .          ||====%   .
       |XX|        X||              .          .    ||    %     .
       |XX|======= X||============================+ || .. %  ........
===== /            X||                              ||    %
                   X||           /)                 ||    %
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

here we are — in san francisco. you never thought you'd actually end up here. well, except you've only been talking about moving here since you were a teen. forgot about that, eh? you had the wherewithal to turn something you were interested in, something that took up so much of your time, into a job — a real career. you thought you were destined for one thing, but maybe that was the anti-authoritarian spirit in you... nonetheless, you're here now, aren't you?

and my, what a point in time we're in. i'm so proud of you, how far you've come. i know it's hard to take a moment to rest, since all you've known is struggle. you've had to be hypervigilant, ever-watching, making sure everything is neatly tied into a bow before taking the next step. you've been through so much.

but i need you to know that you deserve it. you really did earn this. you put a lot of long nights into becoming who you are today; look at the hard work you did. and in your circumstances. you put in the work — mentally, emotionally, and physically. this was your second chance, and you nailed it.

i'm proud of you, kid.