Greetings from Philadelphia [email to Cherise]

Dear Cherise,

Before getting into everything else, I want to say that I hope that you and your family, and hopefully their property too, is safe from all the wildfires.

Next, I want to let you know that after your last email, I prayed every day for many, many days, asking God to allow you to regain your good health, with the eyes and ankle.  How are you now?  I hope you're healthy.

I'm sorry if my absence may have led you to false assumptions.  Unlike what you suggested to Jess, I haven't been "mad" at you.  If anything, I've been (and continue to be) confused and unsure of the possibility of any future relationship with you, while at the same time I've been extremely focused on myself, namely my career.

And as long as I've brought up that topic, you deserve to know the good news: I passed the PA bar, and I've already been sworn-in at City Hall and received my attorney ID number.  All of that means that I'm now officially an attorney.  I'm still waiting for the results from NJ, but I'm feeling optimistic, and they should be announced within the next 2 weeks or so.

As far as a job, I'm currently working full-time on a short-term legal project that's helping me to catch-up on the rent and all the bills.  It's not bad; let's just say that 1 week's paycheck pays for my monthly rent, all of my bills (gas, electric, and cell phone), and my groceries for the whole month.  At the moment, the only prospect for a full-time position is a meeting next week with a former City Solicitor.  Wish me luck!  If I get that position, I'll be working with some of the best and most well-connected people in Philly.  My future as a young leader of this city will then be well on its way to becoming reality.  I've been very persistent and aggressive in working all of my contacts to see about getting a full-time job at a firm.  I wanna get something at one of the best, because I know that once I'm settled in as an attorney, I'm gonna be one of the best.

Finally, Cherise, I've gotta tell you that I think about you here and there, probably a lot more than I even realize.  The truth is that I really don't know what the future holds, and so it naturally follows that I can make no promises of anything at all.

I don't really know what you're thinking these days, but that's where I'm at, for whatever it's worth.  The one thing I can definitely say is that I really care about you a lot.  You're a great girl, and that's really an understatement.

Take care Cherise.