I've never been the type of girl that has gotten mad, and deleted all the pictures, whether it was losing my best friend or breaking up with that boy I dated for a month junior year.

I lost my best friend in high school and refused to delete our pictures. We later became friends again and we were able to look back on those memories and laugh at them. I was so happy I had chosen not to delete them.

So when we broke up, even if it wasn't as clean as we expected, I didn't go through and delete our pictures.

I didn't delete those ugly pictures that we took on our first dates, or the ones where you used to give me a pig nose, because you thought I looked cute, or those selfies we took after those rough nights of fighting. And I especially didn't delete the pictures of you helping me face my fears and teaching me how to love myself.

Our breakup didn't mean that all those good times didn't happen, it just means that things did not work the way you were planning on.

I loved you and there will be a special place for you in my heart for the rest of my life, but we just could not figure out how to get along and treat each other the way we should have.

We ended things as I got ready to go to college and that wasn't easy. My friends told me that I should delete all our pictures and cut you off, but that is not who I am.

Now I am not saying that I am mad at you for deleting evidence that I was ever in your life off social media, or that anyone is wrong for doing so. What I am saying is that we all have different ways of coping and moving on and for some that means deleting those items, and for others that means accepting that those were the good times we had, and now we just have the memories.

People love pictures. They evoke emotions, whether good or bad, they remind us of the good and bad times, and allow us to appreciate those. For now the photos of us make me sad, but they also make me smile because they remind me of how happy we were and how much we helped each other. I know someday I will be able to look back on these images and smile at all the good times we had and all the things you taught me.

You showed me how to love and how to love myself. You showed me that my past doesn't define me and that I am better than the decisions I have made. You supported me in my decisions and told me when I was being dumb. You held me and talked me through those nights that I couldn't stop thinking of all the mistakes I had made, and those nights I couldn't understand why someone would ever love me. Those pictures on my phone and social media, remind me of those times. They remind me that I am better than my past and those things do not define me.

You inspire me to do better every day and to go out and find someone or something that makes me happy. For now we have said goodbye to all those times and our relationship, but just know I will always remember those good times. And for now those pictures will remain where they are as a reminder of myself and my self-worth.

Thank you for all you did. I hope by me leaving those pictures you don't view me as a crazy ex-girlfriend, but as someone who appreciated the times we had. I also hope you know that I hold nothing against you for being the type that does delete those pictures, because I completely respect that.