Dear (insert ex-boyfriend's name here),

I want to open this with a thank you. Thank you for making me happy those few brief months we were together. Thank you for making memories with me, even though they were painful memories for some time while I was trying to get over you.

The main thing I need to thank you for is for showing me how I should not be treated. You proved to me that I deserve more than someone like you. You showed me how a man should never treat a lady and how I should not raise my son to be like. I am not criticizing how your parents raised you; I am merely thanking you for showing me that I deserve better.

I should apologize first and foremost. I am sorry for coming to you with my problems and expecting for you to listen to me and comfort me instead of saying, "Stop making your problems my problems," and, "Stop being so selfish." I am sorry I expected you to be honest with me and not lie to my face when I asked you something or when I caught you lying. I am sorry that I expected you to want to talk to me and to want to see me. I am sorry I got so upset when you ignored me for three days straight without telling me why I deserved the silent treatment. I am sorry for wanting to talk through our problems. I am sorry for trying so hard to make us work when we should not have tried in the first place.

Thank you for showing me that I deserve someone who will listen to me, someone who will hold me when I am crying and feel broken inside, and someone who will be honest with me even if that means admitting something he did wrong -- even if the truth will hurt me a little bit. Thank you for allowing me to see that I deserve someone who wants to get to know every little detail about me, who wants to watch me grow and motivate me to achieve my goals, who wants to see me and talk to me at every given chance, and never lets me go to bed angry or upset. Someone who wants to talk about our issues until the issue is solved and wants to make time for me.

I am grateful that we wasted those months together because with those months I have saved myself from another heartbreak. I might have even gotten into a serious relationship with someone like you. So thank you for making sure that I will never date another guy like you again. Thank you for being my mistake.

Thank you also for the way you handled our break up. For coming back into my life even though I desperately needed you out of it. For trying to make me jealous of you and your new girlfriend and for shoving the new relationship so far into my face it would be the only thing on my mind for the rest of the day. But also, thank you for showing me that I can survive even when I think the world is ending and even when I think I cannot go on without a man in my life. You taught me that I can.

Thank you.