Dear friends,

Thank you for being there when I needed you, even though for a while I pretended I didn't need you. Even though I pretended I could do everything on my own, thank you for knowing before I did that I can't. Even though I pretended everything was fine, thank you for knowing before I did that it's wasn't.

Thank you for knowing more than I thought you knew. Even though you didn't say it, and you held your tongue so I could figure it out myself, thank you for knowing. Thank you for saying it when I didn't know, thank you for not holding your tongue when you couldn't any longer.

Thank you for always being there, even though I haven't always been there. Even though I probably didn't deserve you being there, thank you for being there. Thank you for sticking by me because you love me, and thank you for waiting for me to be me again. Thank you for waiting for the storm to pass and not leaving in the middle.

Thank you for seeing my good, bad, ugly, and everything in between. Thank you for making me laugh on every normal, ordinary day in between. Thank you for watching me grow before I realized I've gotten older, thank you for insisting I've changed when I felt like I've stayed the same.

Thank you for asking if I'm okay, thank you for following me to the bathroom because you knew I was going to cry. Thank you for protecting me, for standing by my side. Thank you for bearing with my tactics of evasion, as dumb as they may seem. Thank you for being aggressively loyal.

Thank you for reminding me that you love me. I didn't know how many people loved me until I really needed to be loved. I forgot how much you cared about me until I needed to be cared for. I didn't realize that you'd come at the drop of a hat, if it meant it was in trouble. That you'd stay up with me even if it meant all night. Thank you for reminding me that I was loved, and also that I deserved that love.

Thank you for wanting me to be okay even more than I wanted me to be okay. Thank you for insisting that I would be okay, for keeping me steadfast, even when the last thing I feel is okay or steadfast. Thank you for distracting me, for cooking chicken parm with me, for allowing us to slide back in as if no time had passed.

I want to let you know that I'm here now, too, for you. For more than just tying your hair back when you throw up. I'm here to talk to, to give you advice. I'm here to distract you, I'm here to complain to. I'm here for your best and your worst because you were here for mine, I'm here for the ordinary as much as the extraordinary.

And even though one of you hurt me, I'm here for you too. Even though I've hurt you, I'm still here for you. Time heals pain, hindsight gives you 20/20 vision. It will all be ok. It will all be ok.