If you haven't seen the hit Netflix original movie "To All the Boys I've Loved Before" starring Lana Condor, Noah Centineo and Janel Parrish… then you're seriously missing out on a truly adorable movie (95 percent on Rotten Tomatoes). So stop your reading right now and go watch… then come back to my article.
What if all the crushes you ever had found out how you felt about them… all at once?
The film adaptation came from the book by Jenny Han. Which showcases the life of a high school girl after her amateur love letters to five males get leaked to the entire school. She goes through multiple trials and tribulations ultimately having a fake relationship with one of the boys addressed in the letter. AKA Mr. popular Peter Kavinsky
Although I am happily in a relationship with my longtime boyfriend. I think each relationship I've had, big or small, has impacted my view on love today.
A letter to the boy I loved in Elementary School:
Dear…
I thought it was a big deal when you kissed me on the cheek on the bus during a school field trip. I thought our teacher might see us and put us in timeout. It's funny looking back how my goofy pig-tailed self just loved being chased by you on the playground. I only wanted you to chase me... not the other school girls… it's funny how simple things were then. Our biggest concern was what we got to eat for lunch or what movie we got to watch in the classroom. Looking back, I didn't know what love even was… I never thought about it. Now, we are both in our 20's and you're still apart of my friend group. I laugh at the innocence of how naïve I was in the third-grade. I thought you would be my forever.
A letter to the boy I loved in Middle School:
Dear…
Our relationship was the epitome of Avril Lavigne's song "Sk8r Boy". You had the bad boy vibe. The type of boy your momma warns you about, but I liked that. Who doesn't want to date a rebel? Especially when your family might not approve? You were the tan-skinned, dark-eyed, skater boy you would see in any teenage rom-com. I thought it was game over with you. You gave me my first experience with butterflies, you also let me experience my first sense of loneliness. You cared more about your skateboard than you did me, but looking I'm not sure why I cared so much about your attention. We were in middle school. Your mom still posts on my stuff sometimes. I think it's cute.
A letter to the boy I loved in High School:
Dear…
The boy I loved in high school is the same one I date today… but it was a completely different relationship than it is now. We were young and dumb but so in love. It was all-consuming. Full of jealousy, tension and confusion. At the time we thought our high school relationship was everything. We thought the littlest things were the end of the world. We let people, drama and rumors come between us. We fought a lot and questioned each other, but at the end of the day, we were crazy about each other. We let the fear of college deliver us challenges on a silver platter, and doubted the strength of our future relationship, but we still spent the summer before soaking up every minute together.
A letter to the boy I loved in College:
Dear…
You came to me out of the blue. What started as a friendship blossomed into something more. You made me blind to your anger by covering it with humor. I had never really laughed the way I did with you. You had a rough childhood. It wore on you and showed in your dark eyes. You approached me when I was at my weakest and picked me up. I thought you were my savior. Yet you isolated me from so many things. I thought you were my anchor, to keep me in place and help me brave the storms when in fact you caused them. I am so thankful I got that month to learn and grow from you. I found out so much about myself and so did you.
A letter to the man I'm going to marry:
Dear…
I have loved you for seven-plus years, but the past year and a half… you have shown me the definition of 1 Corinthians 13:4-8. Patience, kindness, trust, hope, and perseverance. You have allowed me to be my true self, to learn, grow and prosper with my own separate college experience. You have dealt with my attitude, family drama and constant indecisiveness. There's never a day that goes by where I don't feel loved. I'm sad that not everyone gets to find what we have at such a young age. You have made me so excited for the future and what's to come. I get to wake up and lay down each day knowing I get to spend my time loving someone with the biggest heart... And the brown eyes aren't so bad either. ;)
Thank you to all the boys I've loved before… you've led me right to my perfect person.
