Dear Lori,

The Hundred Hearts Project, and all the lives it has touched and will continue to touch, would not exist without your inspiration. Your own 100 Thank Yous project inspired me to dream big and push myself into a place of vulnerability. You changed my life’s course into my True Path and for that I will be eternally grateful.

All my love,

Jenny

Dear Rosalie,

I am inspired by your determination, your belief that all things are possible, and your phenomenally sharp intellect. I feel the desire to reach higher and push harder whenever I talk with you, which isn’t nearly often enough. Thank you for modeling how emotionally, mentally, and physically strong women can be. Thank you so very much for your friendship.

In gratitude,

Jenny

Dear Beth,

Your generosity is astounding. Thank you for gifting me with what became a life-altering experience. I can only hope to pay your kindness forward again and again and again; I can never fully repay the debt - it is simply too huge. In addition to this deep gratitude, I am also so thankful for the way you light up any room with your humor, wit, and genuine interest in others. I always feel like I am better person when I am around you.

Yours,

Jenny

Dear Katy,

Who knew that our brief meeting in 2015 would affect my life so deeply! Our conversation opened my mind and heart to possibilities that seemed out of reach until that moment. I was taken aback by your bravery and conviction for living an unconventional life. Our short encounter taught me that the only limit to my dreams was my ability to dream them. Thank you, thank you, thank you for waking up the dreamer in me.

With deep gratitude,

Jenny

Dear Charisa,

You are my compass point. I am so grateful for our conversations - they always leave me feeling more grounded and sure of my direction. I appreciate your steady course and how your life is rooted in your convictions. You teach me to be unapologetic in my beliefs and unafraid to live them. I love you, my friend.

In gratitude,

Jenny

Dear Shannon,

Thank you for modeling how to turn your passion into a business. Because you were brave enough to share your heart with our community, our community has been blessed with a force and gift of incredible good. I love talking with you - you inspire me to hold tight to my own purpose and build a living, pulsing, juicy, generous community around it. Thank you for showing me that a life of abundance - in its many forms - is absolutely possible.

With so much admiration,

Jenny

Dear Katherine,

I wanted to create a painting that shows how I feel when I am around you - vibrant and full of life! Your laugh and energy is contagious - it seeps into my body until it blossoms to match yours. I am grateful for your ability to make things come to life both in your incredible gardens and in the hearts of those you touch.

With love,

Jenny

Dear Tracy,

Though I have never met you, I have read your blog for years. I am grateful for your example of endurance, grit, making do, humor, passion, conviction, and profound faith. You are a phenomenal human being. Your navigation through the incredible trials that have come your way have taught me to appreciate my body and face challenges with resolve and determination. Thank you for sharing your challenges and triumphs with the world.

With deep admiration,

Jenny

Dear Erin,

This pattern is a Pennsylvania Dutch Hex sign. Our ancestors would put these signs in their homes and outbuildings as a symbol of luck and prosperity. This one in particular invites love, friendship and peace. I am grateful that we share our family, our common stories, and our history. You are kind and generous and fun and strong - it’s an honor to be related to you.

Lots of love,

Jenny

Dear Jody,

I was inspired to paint this for you after I visited your home one evening. I have loved all our conversations from the moment we met but this particular visit left me feeling like I had been given the gift of a peek into your soul. I am grateful for your ability to bind the broken. You have a particular talent for compassionate healing. Thank you for helping me to see my broken pieces more clearly and even light up the way they might fit back together. You have a gift for this and I am so grateful that you share it.

So grateful for you,

Jenny

Dear Kristen,

You, my dear friend, are a connector! You know just about everyone and those you don’t, you soon will! I am so grateful for the ways you have connected me to our community. A large portion of the people I know are somehow connected through you - it’s remarkable. You have introduced me to people who have become dear friends. Thank you so much for that gift. And the gift of being a dear friend yourself. I really can’t imagine life without you.

So much love,

Jenny

Dear Mom,

Thank you for your strength, your love and your example. Thank you for your humor, courage and style. Thank you for road-trips, late-night conversations and Carrs pizza. Thank you for saying yes. Thank you for saying no. Thank you for going out on a limb and thank you for playing it safe. Thank you for a soft, warm place to land. Thank you for all the phases of your life and how they influenced my own. Thank you for my family. Thank you for my memories. Thank you, times infinity (times infinity).

I love you.

Jenny

Dear Molly,

I am so grateful for the way you tenderly care for my body and spirit. I appreciate how compassionately yet firmly you touch my body, drawing attention to areas that have held onto years of stress, anxiety and worry. I am grateful for the way you ease into those places, honor them, and tell them that it’s time to let go. You have a gift of true healing touch and I am so grateful that you have shared that with me.

I love you!

Jenny

Dear Martha,

I am so grateful for the education I received under your mentorship. I am grateful for the way you challenged me to consider what being a woman meant. I am grateful for your encouragement to explore scholarship in all kinds of ways - art, writing, speech, conferences, classes, articles, research, novels and music. You pushed me to learn new things, step out of my comfort zone and have confidence in my skills. I am grateful for the creativity you allowed in my courses of study, and a sweet friendship that has continued long past graduation.

In gratitude,

Jenny

Dear Krista,

There simply are no words that can do you justice. They all fall short. I love you more than I can say and my gratitude runs deeper than I can express.

All my love,

Jenny

Dear Ashley,

Your generosity is astonishing. I am grateful for your example of selflessness. You are always willing to give your time, resources, listening ear, and energy. It’s a strange economy that such a small body can lift so many people - but you do it with grace and ease. Thank you for teaching both me and my children that service is a joy. And thank you for being such a dear friend. How can I be so blessed?

In gratitude,

Jenny

Dear Sarah,

Thank you, thank you, thank you for offering me a lifeline in 2008. I had just had my third child and was realizing that my already meager but essential creative outlets were drying up. Our house was small, I couldn’t get away, and I didn’t have a usable space of my own; art-making was out and quilting was out. Those were my fuel. I was withering away in whirlwind of life with very young children. Someone gave me some knit washcloths for the baby and I was intrigued. I knit a few and then in my naivete decided to attempt a sweater. I came to your store and you introduced me to my salvation. Color, texture, and pattern - all of which could be stored in a small little bag and brought out during story time, waiting time, nap time, movie time, and desperation time. I could knit one stitch or 100 and still make progress. It satisfied my need to create and fit perfectly into the small spaces of my life. Had I not had your beautiful yarn to hold onto, I would have been lost. Thank you.

In gratitude,

Jenny

Dear Linda,

I am so grateful that we are friends. I absolutely love our weekly dates - I enjoy your stories, the movies, the handwork, and the dogs. More than that though, I am grateful for the ease and comfort I feel with you. I love that we can go to lovely dinners or stay home in pajamas and feel equally at ease. You are a delight to be around and I am grateful that we found each other.

With so much love,

Jenny

Dear Kristi,

I am so grateful that we met when we did and where we did. You were my lifeline - more than I’m sure you know. Thank you for listening and loving. Thank you for your example of steady motherhood. I appreciate how hard you’ve worked to become the kind and gentle mother that you are. Thank you, my dear friend, for your love, example, and friendship.

In gratitude,

Jenny

Dear Stacey,

You inspire me to be adventurous and say yes to fun. I love the way you live life: rich, bold, active, and full of enthusiasm. Thank you for showing me that parenting is best done outside; that trails, water, sunshine and snow are the building blocks of great families and great people.

With love,

Jenny

Dear Mrs. Ballagh,

Thank you for expanding my world. Thank you for being incredibly brave and taking a small herd of junior high students to Russia - especially so shortly after the fall of the Berlin Wall. It was a pivot point for me. I learned that I loved to travel and have tried to do as often as possible since. I want to raise my own children as globally as I can - I want them to see and know that humans are humans, no matter what language they speak or where they were born. Thank you so much for teaching me that lesson so early in my life. I will do my best to carry it forward.

In gratitude,

Jenny

Dear Katherine,

I explored a new medium to make this heart for you - clay. Earth, fire, water and air - this process held it all. We’ve held it all. I am grateful to be made of the same materials as you. Two halves of the same whole. You are tenacious, witty, sassy, compassionate, realistic, resilient, brave and incredibly strong. Thank you for sharing your example and life with me. I love you so, so much and am grateful for YOU - every piece that makes you you.

I love you.

Jenny

Dear Mrs. Melms,

I am finally coming back around to the delight you exposed me to as a child! Art class was ALWAYS my favorite class. I loved walking into your bright, clean room and seeing all the supplies carefully laid out for us. I loved the smell of tempera paint and paper. You loved art, you loved us, and I loved you. Now as an adult - and after being distracted by life for well over 20 years - I have found myself back where I started. In the art room. My own this time. I do my best to give myself and those I teach the same experience you gave me - lovely supplies carefully arranged, a clean and inviting space and lots and lots of love. Thank you.

With love and admiration,

Jenny

Dear Rachel,

Thank you for changing my life. Thank you for teaching me what an education really is. Thank you for the laying the framework for a complete (and wonderful) re-working of our family dynamic. Thank you for telling me I could do hard things. And do them well. Thank you for opening my mind and heart to my mission. I know who I am and what I am working towards. Above all, thank you for helping me to see my place in the Great Tapestry.

In gratitude,

Jenny