Dear Friend,

Thank you. Thank you for letting me be unforgivably myself in front of you. Thank you for letting me be mad without fear of judgement. Thank you for letting me destroy myself in front of you. And thank you for building me back up. Thank you for remembering who I am when I unfortunately forget.

Most of my life, I haven't had people who stick around. I used to believe that when people got to know me, they always left. But you! You! You chose to stick around. You chose to see more than my flaws and faults. You see the girl who likes to ride bikes in the rain, and likes to tell stories and go to parties when she should probably finish her paper.

You believe in me when I fail to believe in myself. But more importantly you are on my side when I am wrong, and I cannot thank you enough for telling me, "Yeah she is a b*tch" and agreeing with me that that teacher should have given me an A or that I should not feel guilty for eating that last slice of cake, even though I had three already. You are undoubtedly in constant support of who I am as a human being, even when I make wrong choices. Even when I fail to impress you, you smile and say I impressed you anyway.

I love you for loving who I love, and for pretending that you can't stand the girl in my math class that I can't stand. Even though you have no idea who she is, you pretend anyways, because you pretend for me. Because you are grateful for me. And thus I am grateful for you. Thank you for making all of this easy when it is hard. Thank you.

Sincerely,

A Grateful Friend