I am supposed to hate you. We dated and we broke up and now we are supposed to hate each other. That’s what everyone tells us. But truth be told I have absolutely no reason to. You were nothing but good to me. You were nice, respectful, supportive and loving. And those things never ended. Not even after we broke up. My parents loved you and my friends let you into our exclusive group. You were the kind of person who was supposed to stick around forever.

But things happen. We were young and selfish, a good selfish, though. We were trying to create our own lives while together and we didn’t want the same thing. That’s okay. It still gives me no reason to hate you. It was a good thing we weren’t trying to build the same lives while trying to figure out who we were. You supported me in every choice I made even if it wasn’t best for us. And for that I love you. You let me live my dreams even though it meant us being apart and in the end not together. And for that, I love you more. I am glad I did the same for you. I am glad I never pressured you to take my dream as your own and that you knew yourself enough to know that you did not want the same thing as me.

When I look back at the time you were in my life I was happy. Not a fake put-a-smile-on-my-face happy but truly happy about every part of my life. I was happy to have you but you were not the only source of my happiness (because we made each other promise that our happiness was not in the hands of the other). I was also happy because of every opportunity I continued to take when we were together. I felt for the first time I actually figured out who I was. You did not change who I was or force me to figure out who I was supposed to be but you enhanced who I was meant to be and led me to realize what I wanted earlier than I would have. We pushed each other to try new things and cheered each other up when those new things did not work out. There were no disappointments only celebrations because we were here to build each other up. You can’t hate someone who does that.

But by now we have both moved on. We have dated other people and started new lives without the other in the picture. And it’s so weird because at one point in time I could not imagine living life without you. Thank you for showing grace and love throughout our break up. It was not a conventional one because it was one neither of us wanted. There were tears and hugs and well wishes. There was ‘see you laters’ and ‘I’m sorry’s’ but at the end of the day we ended on a good note that involved nothing but love and support for the other.

So thank you for being someone I can talk to. Someone who will tell me the truth no matter what. Someone who still supports me. A person who does those things should not be hated. They should still be thought of as a good person with good intentions. And because of that know, I am always here if you need someone to talk to, someone who will tell you the truth and someone who will support you. Just because we aren’t together anymore does not mean that I don’t care about what you chose to do anymore.

With nothing but the best,

Your Ex