Dear Ex-Friend,

The laughs that we shared and the memories that we made seem so faint now. You once held a special spot in my heart and it has turned into a hole. Our time spent together as friends now hurts me to think about because you hurt me.

You were once my best friend, the person with whom I shared every detail of my life. There was a time when I once imagined us as forever friends. I pictured you in the crowd at my college graduation, I pictured you as a bridesmaid celebrating my wedding day; I guess I always just pictured you being there for all the big moments. You ruined that.

You changed how you acted and that changed the relationship between you and me. The little things that upset me, I turned a blind eye to. I hoped that things between us would eventually go back to the way they used to be and that it was all just a bad phase. It wasn’t and it continued to worsen.

You didn’t care about my feelings, which made me believe that you didn’t care about me. It was and will always be sad that you never noticed my feelings, you only noticed you. I held on as long as I could, I really did, but eventually that single string that I held onto so tightly snapped. I don’t need to tell it to you because you already know what you did to make me snap, even if you do not have the strength to admit it aloud. What you did to me was absolutely unacceptable and wrong.

I can forgive, but it is hard for me to forget. Except, when you hurt me, you never even asked for forgiveness. You instead refused to be wrong, refused to admit your faults and refused to acknowledge that you hurt me. That is something I cannot forgive and most certainly will never forget. I waited for an apology that I still have not received. If there was an apology given, then things between us may have ended differently, but that’s not the case.

Next time you see me, know that you hurt me, but know that I do not hate you. You do not need to say hi, I do not want that. You made your choice to treat me badly and for that, I no longer need someone like you in my life. You hurt me and I have accepted that. I will not talk about you and I will not talk about what happened anymore. All I ask is you let me live my life without interference from you in it. After all that has happened, I do not think that is asking for too much.

The last thing that I have to say to you is thank you. I am not thanking you for hurting me, but I am thanking you for making me a stronger person. I am thanking you for opening my eyes. When you hurt me, it showed me who really cared about me when you displayed that you did not. It showed me the type of people that I have in my life, the type of people that I need in my life and the type of people that I want in my life. Our friendship was not meant to be and it’s because you hurt me. I hope that you learned from me and I hope that you do not hurt another person.

Sincerely,

The Friend You Hurt