Dear You,

Thank you.

I know, I will receive gasps of amazement when others read those two words. But that is all I can think to say. Thank you for showing me what love could be, during a time when I couldn't love myself, let alone love anyone else. You came in and turned my world upside-down in the best way. You showed me what it was like to truly live. For the first time, with you, I was living, and not just existing.

I know I really meant something to you. (If you tried to hide it, if you tried to act tough, you did a terrible job at it. Everyone knew.) I am honored that you chose to give me all of you, that you chose to love me as much as you did. I loved you just as much. I never want you to think otherwise.

Thank you for being patient with me. I never said thank you for that enough. I know I was a mess sometimes, a handful, but you handled it with grace. If I could go back and change anything, though, it would be that I would ease my mind a little, and not get so worked up over the small stuff. I really am sorry that you had to deal with that part of me. It just wasn't fair. I would change it if I could. I think things would have been different then, don't you?

Thank you for loving me. Thank you for showing me your "sweet side" - the one that you try, for whatever reason, to hide. When we first got together you said "Maybe you'll see my sweet side some day, if you stick around." I laughed at first, thinking you were joking. You weren't joking. You showed me a sweet side, and then some. (And again, you did a bad job at hiding it. Your friends even knew how much you loved me. They could see it. Not that it matters now.)

Thank you for forcing me out of my comfort zone. Had it not been for you, there would have been so many experiences I would have never had, so many things I would have never done, and so many stories I wouldn't have to tell.

Thank you for giving me the strength to be confident in myself. You said once, "If you gain anything from being with me, I hope it's confidence in yourself, and the ability to know how great you are without me, or anyone, having to tell you." Well, I can say that I have. But that is because of you and the encouragement that never once wavered.

Thank you for introducing me to your family. They are some of the best people I know - both your real family and your "brothers". We have stayed close, and I am so lucky to know each and every one of them.

I changed when I was with you. I became a better version of myself. I was happy again. The light was back in my eyes. I could do anything, as long as you were by my side through it all. I became a stronger person because of you. (Both physically and mentally, with the latter due in part to you always encouraging me to work out.)

Thank you for being you. Thank you for loving me the way you did, in the best way that you could. You were my best friend. It was an amazing thing for my life to change the way it did when I was with you. It was an amazing thing to fall in love with you.

It really, truly was.