It’s been awhile since you’ve last seen them. Maybe a few days, months, or even a couple of years. Yet, the thought of them seems to occasionally cross your mind. Perhaps the memories linger just a bit too long. Maybe you find yourself giggling as you remember a lighthearted moment. Tears may well-up as you remember the last time you saw their inviting face.

They’re the ones that got away.

The relationship fled too fast for us to hold onto. What once was something special has suddenly disappeared— the emotions and memories disappear from our lives, but not necessarily from our hearts.

This, my friends, is the predicament.

“The one that got away” is the person you may regret losing the most; whether they be a family member, a dear friend, or an old, yet notable, significant other. More often than not, the title of the one that got away is used to describe the latter of those three. Nonetheless, losing someone from your close circle of loved ones is earth-shattering--especially when you never had a chance to say goodbye.

In my adolescence, there have been numerous people who have weaved in and out of my life. Fleeting friendships and short-lived romances were abundant throughout high school. However, my senior year is when I met a group of my closest friends, including someone who I've deemed as my version of "the one who got away."

For this special person, all I have to say is: thank you.
Thank you for helping to make me, me.

Perhaps the one that got away was the one that showed you new and exciting opportunities. They made you try new things—things you would’ve never done before. They make you smile a bit more and laugh a little harder. Perhaps they provided a feeling of warmth and security you had never felt before. This person felt like home. Perhaps they taught you what love was. They were the first person that held your hands a little more tenderly. They hugged you a little more meaningfully. Perhaps they made you feel radiant. Positively radiant with undeniable happiness.

Most importantly, this individual impacted you more than anyone else before. This person was the one who helped shape you into who you’ve become today.

I am forever thankful that this person had a chance to be present in my life. Even if at face value it was just another high school relationship that would inevitably end, this person made all the difference in helping me find myself. It was much more than just another frivolous teenage fling. I didn’t have to do any intensive soul-searching to discover who I was. They’re the ones that helped find my soul and embraced it for all that it is.

Not only did they help me find who’s on the inside, but they added a dash of magnificence to it.

Pop superstar Katy Perry is famous for her teenage anthems of love, heartbreak, and individuality. As an impressionable tween girl in the early 2010s, I clung to these songs throughout middle and early high school. It wasn’t until recently I took a step back in time to listen to her 2011 album Teenage Dream. Her song, titled ”The One That Got Away,” encapsulates many of the emotions I felt (even more so now versus when I was merely thirteen) after it was time to part ways from one of my closest friends.

While my old significant other and I will not be “keeping all our promises” and it won’t be “us against the world,” there is a piece that wishes I could've "made them stay." Nevertheless, it’s never good to dwell on what could’ve been. Sometimes you have to live with what you have now, and enjoy the moments and feelings from the past in your heart.

The slightly cliché phrase, "don't be sad because it's over, smile because it happened" applies here.

Let them—whether a best friend, a special someone, or a family member—remain in your memories as someone who had a positive impact on your life. Let them remain in your heart as someone who sparked joy, excitement, and love inside of you.

Thank them for this.