I am a Canadian woman and being that, I want to thank you Hillary Clinton, for the true example of leadership and strength you have put out into the world. The United States is not my country but yours, and yet, myself along with millions of people from all around the world were cheering you on to be President; the first woman President of the United States!

  After election night it took me a while to catch my breath again. The ugliness of the race, the inciting of fear and division, the creation of an environment ripe for the manifestation of any latent bigotry, the shock and devastation over the final results; the impact of all of these were felt by women and men everywhere. I felt sick inside, a little lost, very disillusioned and saddened, and yet in a moment of light, I began my return back to the fresh air of hope and possibility.

  Light returned as I watched you give your concession speech, you personified such grace and love, that I was reminded from where Life’s true power stems. You were such a stunning example of genuine dedication as you extended to the new president elect, Donald Trump, an offer to work with him on behalf of and for the sake of the country. It was beauty come to life as your love of service, country, and the people within it, shone so brightly! I am sure that many a person awoke to your truest of colors that day only to realize that their real champion was the one they may have voted against.

  You took us beyond gender, and although aware of the historical significance a vote for you would hold, by the time election night rolled around, having you – a woman, in the running, or even envisioning you in the seat of president, no longer seemed extraordinary; it just felt like the next logical step. It felt only common sense to have a president who possessed your triad of power – experience, vision, and inner strength – and to cast a vote for one who had committed her life to the service of her country and to the values and qualities of those contained within the ideal of “Stronger Together!.”

  You, Hillary, made possible the actual experience of voting for a woman as president, and now there is no going back; the natural quality of looking to women to guide and empower us has now become a part of the consciousness, both individually and collectively. And so, you have become the ultimate champion for girls, young women, and women everywhere. They have now seen someone “like them” having vied for the leadership of the richest and most powerful country in the world and normalizing it. In spite of the outcome of the election, girls are having the glass ceiling within their own minds shattered as they have seen something new and powerful modelled for them, and also, as a result of the ever increasing numbers of the popular vote, they now know that the majority of America, women and men, voted their readiness for and confidence in having a female president.

  Hillary Rodham Clinton, we were waiting for you! You are the great forerunner! In any great movement or turn in history there are always the crucially important forerunners, the one’s who set the stage, the one’s who clear the path. Take heart, Hillary, you have carved your place in history, you are the precedent, you are the inevitability of what’s to come! With pride and love in our hearts, I speak for many as I tell you, we celebrate you and we thank you!