Hey Man,
It’s been awhile hasn’t it?
It seems strange to think that you, the one person that was once so important to me, who I used to think about every day, who I considered my best friend, is now a stranger. Now I don’t know what is going on in your life. How you are doing, how school is going, how your family—who so graciously took me into their homes and treated me as their own—is doing.
It’s funny, isn’t it? How much we believed that our relationship would be our last, and here we are now. How we thought we would be high school sweethearts. How we talked about marriage, our wedding, having kids and even picked our kids’ names. I saw a real future with you. Everything I pictured about my life involved you. Now I see something much different.
I guess I should thank you. I should thank you for the memories, first of all. The almost four years spent with you hold probably some of my fondest memories at this point in my life. We shared laughs, tears and heartaches, but, regardless of the situation, we continued to love each other unconditionally.
I suppose I should thank you for that next. Thank you for showing me how to love. For teaching me that it is okay to allow someone into my life. For showing me that caring about someone else is the most rewarding experience you will ever encounter. For showing me how to be a part of someone else's life. To be a part of their family, their plans, their future. You have truly shaped who I am as a person and as a lover, and I thank you for that.
Thank you for being there for me through the good and the bad. We enjoyed each other’s company when things felt like they were finally going our way. When things felt perfect. We were there for each other when we were sick: that time I got my tonsils out, that time you broke your ankle just by walking (you were never really graceful), and every time either you or I got a sinus infection, which seemed to be quite often. We were there for each other through tragedies: I comforted you through the time your dog got lost (but thankfully was found), you were there for me when my uncle passed away, and I was there for you as you watched your grandmother, who both of us held very close to our hearts, lost her battle with cancer. We were there for each other when we needed it the most.
I thank you for loving me. Especially thank you for loving me at a time when I believed no one would ever love me. At a time when I didn't even love myself. You helped me gain the confidence I now wear proudly as an accessory to my personality. You helped me find my way through my time of self-doubt.
Most of all, I want to thank you for being the man I thought I was going to marry, and shaping me into the person I am today.
