Dear
Buffalo,
If you’re reading this and have absolutely no idea what a "Great White Buffalo" is or why you were mine, I have two suggestions for you. First off, you should really watch Hot Tub Time Machine, the movie that coined the term "Great White Buffalo," better known as "the one that got away." Secondly, I encourage you to read this letter and take in every word I never got to say to you, because I let you slip away; I let you become my "Great White Buffalo," and that is something I’ll always regret.
Let me start off by saying I’m sorry. I’m sorry for not seeing what I had right in front of me until it was too late, and you were long gone. When I think back on all of our times together I find myself wondering… How did I not get it? The thing is, I’ve yet to come up with an answer. I can’t find an answer, because there isn’t one. There are only excuses that I dealt you that you didn’t deserve. I was scared. I wasn’t ready. Nothing had ever felt so natural or easy like it did with us, and I guess I thought it was too good to be true. So I held back, I pushed you away until you were out of sight, and the second that happened I knew you’d forever be the one that got away. Letting you go will always be my one regret, my biggest mistake, and the thing I’m most sorry for. The hardest part is even though I know you’ve accepted my apology, I have to live with the fact that it won’t change things—and I’ll forever regret that, too.
Secondly, I need you to know how much I recognize what I lost when I let you become my Buffalo. You were quite the catch, and I need you to see that—even though it took me far too long to realize it. You have so much going for you: humor, looks, intelligence, passion…essentially everything a girl looks for in a guy, you possess. Though I may not have shown that I thought so highly of you when I had the chance, I need you to know how wonderful you are now, and why any girl would be lucky to have you.
You’re the full package, and that’s another reason I’m certain I’ll never get you back. You’ll always be the one that got away—because any girl with half a brain can see how lucky she would be to have you, and I can’t compete with that after letting you go once. I hate that I don’t stand a chance with you anymore because of that, but I’m also so happy to see you pursue someone who sees what’s in front of her without having to take a second glance. You deserve that; you deserve the world. You deserve to never experience the heartache of having a Great White Buffalo, and I hope you never have to.
Lastly, I have to tell you thank you. I hate that it took losing you to see what I had, but without you, I don’t know where I’d be. Losing you is a lesson learned that has taught me to go after what I want, in spite of fear, or timing, or anything else that may stand in the way of my happiness- because you never know if you’ll get a second chance. I guess that’s why they call it the ‘one’ that got away— because after going through the heartbreak and frustration of it all once—you learn to never let something so great pass you by ever again. So thank you for being my Great White Buffalo—for showing me what ‘could be’, what I deserve, and what I hope you find for yourself. They say if you love something you should let it go, so I’m letting you go again, but this time it’s because I recognize what I had- and what you deserve, and I want nothing more than for you to be free to find that. So even though it hurts like hell to lose you all over again—I’m letting you go, I’m letting you be "the one that got away," I’m accepting that you will forever be my Great White Buffalo...because you deserve someone who will never let you become theirs.
Love always,
The One That Let You Go
