"You know your real friends will show up for you, rain or shine," Taylor Swift cheerfully announces to the crowd of more than 82,000 at MetLife Stadium this summer in New Jersey during one of her three consecutive sold out shows there. While she was referring to the rain that was currently pouring onto us, I saw it as a pretty good metaphor for the last 24 months of Swift's life. Seeing the show that weekend gave me the biggest sense of pride and admiration I've probably ever had for Taylor, and that's saying something.

I was there firsthand during the real rise, fall and rise again of Taylor Swift, I've been there since 2008. Not just a fan that listens when she's on the radio or just buys songs on iTunes, but a fan that has gone to countless shows, spent thousands of dollars on merch and music and most importantly, emotionally invested myself in Taylor. And yeah, this piece wasn't written by a reporter being neutral and critically analyzing Taylor's career, it was by a fan telling you how it really felt to witness it all.

I had to watch this empire she created and earned begin to crumble beneath her with no real merit and more or less because it was cool to hate Taylor Swift, and it was heartbreaking. Sure, online fans kept morale up and continuously communicated whom the real Taylor was and why she didn't deserve this defamation, but it felt like we were chasing people walking ahead of us while stuck on a treadmill. You know that people don't actually think Taylor is a bad person, but you have to listen and watch them badmouth her because it felt socially relevant.

When you think about why Taylor got so much hate it's incredulous: she was recorded being "okay"with a rap song that calls her a bitch and says a man can have sex with her because he made her famous...um? Taylor never actually said negative things about the song, her FANS did. Why? Because it was insulting, misogynistic and unnecessary, which should be reason enough. And moreover, this altercation was all society needed to denounce Taylor because honestly, they wanted to anyway. And do you want to know why? Well, I'm still working it out.

People have always found a way to hate Taylor because being a successful, talented, intelligent and charitable FEMALE singer just isn't enough. And you know what, that's just not fair. It's not fair as a young woman to see a woman who worked hard be depicted as a calculated and spiteful girl who somehow doesn't deserve her stardom for no reason other than it trended well on Twitter. Making fun of her girl squad? Yes, because celebrating women together is surely worse than having them fight like normal. Discrediting her song writing ability? Yes, because how could she possibly win two album of the years at the Grammy's without men helping her. It was always more than trying to destroy Taylor Swift, it was about bringing down a girl who beat the odds and showed that we don't just live in a mans world. It was never about whether you liked Taylor's music, her show or even her personality, it was you liking to see her fall even more.

So for two years, Taylor went away and society got what they wanted, right? Wrong. Taylor found a way to rise again with one of the best selling and appraised pop albums of the decade, and it was called reputation. Taylor directly called out the ridiculousness of the witch-hunt continuously plaguing her and showed vulnerability in the fact that yeah, it hurts when the world decides to hate you. She vengefully wrote about no longer trusting people, losing battles she could never win, and letting the "old Taylor" die. But more importantly, she wrote about the heartache of losing control of people's perceptions of you, specifically those you really care about. She brought to life a dark, powerful aesthetic complete with snakes and gold opulence, championing the dark aura so callously assigned to her. And just like expected, it sold over one million copies the first week and has been #1 on radio for months. Why? Because people love Taylor Swift. Funny how that works.

So here I am, two years since Taylor's "demise," having watched her perform to a sold out crowd on her global stadium tour. Flying around to three different stages, having 100-foot tall inflatable snakes and fireworks exploding everywhere, giving people a show they'll never forget. It feels like all the other tours filled with screaming fans, happiness and excitement, except it feels totally different. It feels like Taylor showing what it truly means to fall, and that if you deserve to rise, you always will.

And Taylor, I'll always be there to watch you rise.