My daughter made drawings with the pens you sent,
line drawings that suggest the things they represent,
different from any drawings she — at ten — had done,
closer to real art, implying what the mind fills in.
For her mother she made a flower fragile on its stem;
for me, a lion, calm, contained, but not a handsome one.
She drew a lion for me once before, on a get-well card,
and wrote I must be brave even when it's hard.
Such love is healing — as you know, my friend,

   The flower and the lion that Ryan’s daughter drew gives away an idea of the character of both her mother and father. A flower thats fragile on its stem is a symbol that would be drawn for someone who is warm-hearted and kind. The lion means that her father (Michael Ryan) tries not to display much emotion in front of his daughter and that inevitably, Michael Ryan is not a handsome-looking gentleman. 

A Thank You Note