It has been a long road to get here. Since I'm leaving for college soon I decided it would be best to look back on the people and the things that happened over the past eighteen years I spent in my small town. So I decided it would be best to write an open letter for them.
To my mom and dad,
I hope you know that I love you. Even if I'm twenty-two hours from home I will still love you and think about you every day. I know how hard it must be on you to have two daughters on two different ends of the country. But I know you know it's for the best. I know you knew that this day would come, I just don't think you knew how quickly it would come.
Also, thank you. Thank you for holding my hands while I learned how to walk. Thank you for dealing my terrible twos and all my redheaded tantrums. Thank you for staying by my side even when all my friends had left me. Thank you for always sitting in audience and cheering me on, even when I sucked. Thank you for all the countless hours spent in car rides going God knows where so I could compete in tournaments. Thank you for constantly sticking up for me when the adults in charge never would. Thank you for believing in me, even when I said things that probably made your stomach sink like "I want to be a Film major." Thank you for teaching me how to be the woman I am today, and I hope that by being the adult you raised me to be I can pay you back for all you've done.
To the friends I used to have,
I still miss those days we spent together. It was years ago now, and we were all different people, but I still miss how simple things were. I miss our inside jokes, our sleepovers, and all the things we did. I look back on the old pictures we took and I'm glad we spend our time together, even if it ended in heartbreak for all of us.
I'm sorry you all felt the need to blame me for stupid teen drama. I hope you've all moved past it too, and that maybe you're all better people for it. I hope that you all go off to college and enjoy your time. I hope you make friends, and continue to live your life. I hope you look back on those days with a nostalgic smile about how great things were even if they didn't end that way. I do.
To the second family I've made,
I know you know how important you are to me. Slowly meeting all of you and forming our squad was a lifesaver for me. Before I knew you, I was alone and had no friends. I wanted nothing more than a group of people I could talk to. I was lonely and scared and thought no one could ever be friends with me. Finding you guys changed that. I made best friends like I'd never had before. We had a great time at work, messing around instead of actually working. It makes me so happy to see each of us pursuing our passions.
I will miss you guys so incredibly much. Giving each of you a big hug before leaving made me so sad. I will be very far away, but I'll still think of you guys. Even though I will make new friends, and go on my own path, I won't forget the times I've shared with you. The past two years have been some of the best of my life, and they wouldn't have been without you guys. So thank you for saving me, and making me enjoy this small town a bit more than I did before.
Finally, to the boy I never told how I felt,
You don't know who you are by reading this, I hope. I kept my feeling a secret pretty well. But after seeing you for one of the last times in a long time, I couldn't help but feel a bit of regret. I never told you about my feelings, but I don't mind that much. There's a little regret--that question of "What if?"--but I think our friendship is for the better if you don't know. Hearing you talk about another girl today was heartbreaking, but I'm glad. I can't move on with my life and leave my hometown behind if I was still holding on to something that wouldn't ever be. We're different people, and want different things, and that's okay. I know we will continue to be best friends, and maybe one day that'll be enough.
Sincerely,
The Girl Who's Finally Leaving Her Hometown.
