Dear You,

Thank you for falling in love with me, and for loving me so well. Thank you for the late night talks and cooking my favorite foods for me. For the the piggy back rides, back massages, feet tickles, listening ears, and the Pandora radio list of our love songs. Thank you for the night you came to my rescue when I was sick, and showing me just how much love one person can give to another. Thank you for being understanding and turning the arguments into compromises. Thank you for giving me parts of yourself that no one else knows about. I will treasure these in the safest parts of my soul. Thank you for teaching me how to love others better, and to appreciate their love more.

Thank you for when you took that love away from me. For when you left me sobbing on the stairs that night, walking myself home alone in the dark. Thank you for tearing me apart, and making me a last priority. Thank you for becoming scared of your feelings for me. For becoming distant and alienating me out of your life. For when you didn't love me so well. Thank you for teaching me that not every story has a happy ending. For showing me what kind of person I actually need in my life. Most of all, thank you for teaching me how to let go. You taught me that people can change and break their promises, but that doesn't invalidate what we had before all of this. I've learned that now.

Thank you for showing me that love is not just something to fall in and out of. Love is a state of cognitive being. I did not lose love when I lost you; I am always constantly surrounded by love. The love of my family, friends, and nature. I fell in love with my first breaths into this world. My self-peace was not taken away by you, nor was the person I've always been vanished. She is still there within me, fighting and becoming stronger and every day. I did not lose myself to you.

Loving you didn't shatter my heart. Loving you helped me discover parts of myself I didn't even know existed. Loving you taught me how to love myself more. It showed me how loyal I could be, how much I could give to someone I loved. How playful and silly I can be, but also how fierce of a woman I am capable of being. Coming into college, I thought I knew who I was completely. But, you were the pieces to my puzzle, each one adding a bit more clarity to the bigger picture of who I am. Through the process of putting the puzzle pieces together, I learned that the final piece to the puzzle won't be added by a guy. The last piece must be one found within myself. A place of contentment that only I can give me.

Until then, thank you for breaking me. Thank you for taking your love away so I could find it hidden within myself. Thank you for putting me through something painful like this, because it was something I had to go through in order to find myself at this point of my life. I have no regrets. Thank you, thank you.

Best wishes always,

Me