Karen,
I don't know how to open up this letter, so I'll simply say what's on my mind.
I'm glad you decided to serve on the Normandy. You stayed when Captain Anderson resigned, you joined me despite Cerberus fronting our mission against the Collectors, and you joined us in our fight against the Reapers. There are very few friends I hold as close to my heart as you, Karen. It pains me to see you joining us for a mission that very well might be suicide, but to ask you to stay behind simply because I want you safe would never suit you. You stand at my side, walking in hell with me, and for that, you have my undying respect.
My hope is that you've survived the mission and are now reading this. If that's the case, I'm gone. I know you'll miss me, but I hope you understand when I say I was proud to make the decisions I made that brought us to the point. I regret nothing, and I hope you feel the same.
I've taken the liberty of supplying you with some of your favorite drink. I want to think we started a tradition on the Normandy, drinking toasts to our health and to our friends. I ask you now if you would please continue that tradition. You can invite others to join you if you wish, and I hope you do. It may have been our own private ritual, but it was to friends. These same friends have brought us to this point. They made it possible for us to stand here facing machines responsible for galactic genocide. I feel it would honor them as you have honored me when you stayed by my side.
Ultimately, the brandy is yours to do with as you wish. I'm only giving small words of advice. Thank you for everything, Karen. I pray you live out your life in peace.