Sometimes I look back and miss you. I wish that you were still here. I miss the innocence and caring that you have for others, and the way that you believed there was good in every person.

But I needed to grow, and that meant leaving you behind. I packed up and left for school, leaving you behind. Sometimes I will find glimpses of you when I see my old friends and family, but now I am a new person. I am a person you is independent and strong, someone who doesn't rely on others to make her feel good. I know that you were there in my darkest times, and I will never be ashamed of you, but growing up means leaving what was near and dear to me, including you.

I hope that you understand and you are not mad at me. In fact I hope that you are proud of who I have become and what I am doing. The new me may not have everything right, but she is working on it. I know that you are immortalized and remembered in the memories of my friends from the past and in my families hearts forever, and I am ok with that, now it is time for them to meet the new me and add her to the list of memories. I hope that you will not be forgotten because no matter what you were a big piece of my life and I would not be who I am today without being you along the way.