Hello Sunshine,

I know that these online letters are a bit cliché, but I've had a hard time putting into words how much I appreciate you. Despite this, I've had this urge to tell you all of the great things you've done for me. Someone as wonderful as you deserves to know how much you've done for me, even if just in the short amount of time I've known you.

Now don't take this the wrong way, but when I first met you, I had little hope that it would work out. I've been with other guys before and never really had a great experience. I've been verbally battered and emotionally worn down; the life felt as if it had been sucked out of me through those experiences. That caused me to set my expectations of how well things would work out to be pretty low. This was not a reflection of you personally, but rather a reflection of my past experiences being thrown onto you, and for doing that, I sincerely apologize. I was already setting low expectations before I had given you a chance, and that was extremely unfair of me to do. I was afraid of falling for someone new, and I guess my reaction was somewhat like the Grinch's when his heart grew three times it's size (see below).

I have to give credit where credit is due though: you certainly proved me wrong. Very quickly, your contagious positivity and sweet smile grew on me. I began to see how genuine you were with me. In fact, you were so genuine, my walls of skepticism quickly broke down and you showed me. How wonderful being on the other side of that wall is. This was a feeling that I haven't felt in such a long time; the refreshing feeling of hope and happiness. For bringing that out in me again, I cannot thank you enough.Sometimes I feel awful that I may not deserve someone as amazing as you are. As you slowly learned, I am that girl with a broken past, and, to make things tougher, a broken heart. I'm not the easiest person to fall for in all honesty. I try not to show it much, but I do have some baggage from my past. Yet, even when you I told you that, you stayed. You didn't tell me that I should talk to someone else or just give up on a relationship until the hurt from the past faded away; in fact, you were quite reassuring. Saying things like "I am always here for you to talk. Or to listen. Or to just comfort you", or, "your baggage does not scare me away. Everyone has baggage, and you're not alone", proved what a wonderful person you are. You didn't run or slowly start to leave me, but instead pulled me closer and told me everything was going to be alright. For helping me realize that I was only bent, and not broken, I can never thank you enough.

I have learned about you as well during every step of this journey. I have learned how bright one person's smile can make a room. You really can light up a whole room with that wonderful smile of yours. I've learned that the amount of talent one person can have is unending. I've learned that while music on the radio is great, Ozzy Osbourne is the best way to go. Most importantly, you've taught me how to open up once again; how to open myself up to all of the beautiful gifts that this world has to offer us; how to open myself up to new experiences; how to open myself up to another person and all of their beauty once again.

For all of this, I want to thank you. Thank you for taking the time to get to know me. Thank you for your patience, kindness, generosity, and passion. Thank you for being understanding and for breaking down my walls. Thank you for showing me what it was like on the other side of those walls; where I once thought I would only see empty hallways, you showed me museums. Thank you for your wonderful presence and warm smile; I am always honored to be with both of those things. Thank you for reminding me what butterflies feel like. I don't know if I have told you this, but I used to have many pet butterflies as a young child, and I forgot what that felt like until we had met. Thank you for all things, big or small things.

Most importantly, thank you for always knowing to walk with me; for if you had walked behind me, I may have accidentally led you down the wrong path, but if you had walked in front of me, I may have grown anxious and stopped following. Instead, you continue to walk by my side, always as my friend. And I will always be grateful for this.

Thank you for this wonderful journey.

"As soon as I saw you, I knew a grand adventurewas going to happen". -A.A. Milne