Dear friends,

First of all, I have a generic thank you to give you that I would say to anyone who is my friend and who has stuck by my side. I appreciate your friendship and your support, and I know that I am not always the easiest to stay friends with. I am needy, I quadruple text, and I sometimes need reassurance that you actually care. So thank you for sticking by me, for being around when I need you and for loving me.

But I have a lot more to say to you, my platonic male friends. First of all, thank you for teaching me guy things and for letting me be "one of the bros" sometimes. You've talked sports with me and you haven't let me win because I'm a girl - so thank you extra for that. You've answered my awkward, honest questions about being a guy, and you've helped me when I've had drama with past crushes and boyfriends because you can see the situation from a male point of view. And you've taken my periodic girlishness with humor, and you've laughed even when you had no idea what I was talking about.

Even more, thank you for respecting our friendship. Thank you for accepting that it is a friendship (or for ensuring that I accept that it is just a friendship) and for being happy with that and for not pressuring me for anything else. Thank you for letting me sleep on your shoulder sometimes, and thank you for giving me hugs when my day has not been the best at all, and thank you for allowing these things as just part of our friendship - I notice and greatly appreciate it.

Thank you for going on adventures with me, introducing me to different music and driving all over the state of Georgia with me just because. Thank you for taking me to movies that I never would have seen on my own and for forcing me into hobbies that I actually really do like. Thank you for debating topics with me that I don't know about (sometimes, I don't know everything - this is an official admission!) and for teaching me things about it then.

Thank you for defending me against people who have hurt me or would hurt me, for ensuring I understand how important my own independence is and for giving me the most honest advice in everything in my life. Thank you for being another brother (one that is simultaneously more and less annoying than the ones I have) and for including me in your stories and your life but without nearly all the drama.

I appreciate you for being my friend, but for being a special kind of friend - a friend I can be completely myself with because you can understand, support and respect me. Thank you for everything!

Love,

Me