Dear "One Tree Hill,"

You came when I least expected you. I was stressed out, and saw you pop up on my Netflix feed. Okay, why not? I had never gotten too attached to any show before, so I figured it would be a good distraction from school without completely taking over my life. I was wrong.

As cliche as it may be to say, this TV show changed my life. It changed me. It was simply described as a teen drama, according to IMDb, the show centered on "half-brothers Lucas and Nathan Scott [that] trade between kinship and rivalry both on the basketball court and in the hearts of their friends in the small, but not so quiet town of Tree Hill, North Carolina." But to me, it was so much more.

This show came into my life when I wasn't feeling right. I was struggling with who I was, and my depression was raging full force. Through the trials and tribulations of Lucas, Nathan, Haley, Brooke and Peyton, I pulled myself out of the hole. I came back to life as I watched their lives develop.

Since then, I have been to a "One Tree Hill" convention, met tons of the actors and actresses and have visited — and fallen in love with — the city it was filmed in, Wilmington, NC, way more than once. I'm still obsessed, and I get emotional every time I re-watch the series or anytime someone brings it up. So I want to take a quick minute to thank you, "One Tree Hill," for everything

Thank you for giving us Naley. Thank you for showing us that true love is real, and it is beautiful. Thank you for showing us also that with true love, there are still obstacles. Nathan plus Haley equals some serious relationship goals.

Thank you for talking about the real, hard issues. Season three episode 16, "With Tired Eyes, Tired Minds, Tired Souls, We Slept," still makes my heart hurt. School shootings are real, bullying is real, and thank you for gracefully portraying a subject that needs to be acknowledged, despite all the pain that comes with it.

P.S. I met the actor who played Jimmy Edwards, Colin Fickes, and he is one great guy!

Thank you for empowering women. With the leading ladies you gave us, you couldn't go wrong. Haley, Brooke, Peyton, and later on Quinn, were all amazing and strong in their own ways. From Haley and Quinn having to deal with their mother's death to Peyton and Brooke beating the crap out of psycho Derek, these ladies were graceful but were never ones to be messed with. To this day, I still don't know which one of them I love more.

Thank you for your killer soundtrack! One Tree Hill is one of the best shows for music; each episode was titled after a song and the show is even named after a U2 song, "One Tree Hill". Not to mention that we had some amazing actors and actresses develop their musical skills right on the show and now they are off living the glorious life of performing and touring right now (I'm looking at you, Haley and Chris Keller). And how can I not mention the amazing musical guests, from Pete Wentz to Gavin Degraw. Every single time I hear "I Don't Wanna Be," I get really emotional.

Thank you for your friendships. From watching the drama in high school to seeing them navigate their adult lives together, those are some serious friendship goals. Can we just acknowledge how many feels we got when Lucas came back to meet Haley during Nathan's kidnapping? I'm tearing up while I write this. Nothing beats the fabulous five. Loving them forever.

So thank you, "One Tree Hill." Thank you, Mark Schwahn. Thank you, fabulous five. Thank you to everyone who made this show a reality, because it helped me get through some hard times. I love you "One Tree Hill." Always and forever.