First I want to start off by thanking you, thank you for teaching me that nothing last forever, and as bad as that may seem I couldn’t be happier to hear those words. I wanted so badly to be your happily ever after, but I've realized I was never even your once upon a time.

You showed me that time means absolutely nothing, you can be with someone every day for years and they can still move on like you never existed.

You taught me that happiness can't always be found in someone else no matter how much you think you need them, you can and will survive without them. Thank you for ruining it for everyone after you, I’m sure I’ve missed out on a really great guy by constantly comparing him to you. I fooled myself into thinking you were perfect. But the reality is you weren’t, you let life change you, and us as well. You half-loved someone, who would do anything to be your everything. You taught me to doubt myself, you made me want to change the way I look, the way I’m shaped, the way I dress, you made me feel like I had to reinvent myself to keep your attention. What was once so beautiful turned so sour so quick.

I wonder if you remember the little things that I sit around and miss often. Like how after every game you would cuddle up next to me, while I rub your back until you fall asleep. Or in the mornings how I would lay there and stare at you sleep peacefully, because you were always too tired to get up early on your days off. The nights I made you watch my favorite movie as I recited every line before the actors had the chance. All the little things that made me love you.

I was told that sometimes you have to learn to forgive someone who was never even sorry, that’s strength. So I forgive you and I hope she treats you like a king and loves you with all her heart. I pray for your happiness and success even though I now see that my absence is required for you to find it. I hope she gets to know the you I once feel in love with and gets to experience the love I know you can give. I hope she’s the one that puts that gorgeous smile back on your face because I just couldn’t quite do it. Although you never seemed to care when you hurt me, I’ve realized I could never do you the same way. Things weren't always bad, in fact at times it felt like we were on top of the world together.

It wasn't until it was over that I realized how unhappy we truly had become with each other.

There are times when I miss you and the times we had together, times when I've cried myself to sleep. But after today I’m letting it all go, the hurt, the memories, the past is finally that, the past. Time to move on and feel happiness again. I’ve started the process of loving myself again. This letter isn't meant to bash you because you are a great person in your own way, it's to free myself of this weight on my shoulder, and thank you for this growing experience. One day I will find a man who will make me smile, make me feel beautiful even when i'm ugly, he'll fix everything in me that you left broken. My day is coming, but until then i'll continue to grow and glow on my own. I’m learning to live for me, proving to be strong enough to stand on my own two feet. So thank you for breaking for me, it’s taken me some time to put the pieces back together but I’ve finally rearranged the puzzle I call my life, and it looks great without you.

"I don't know what the hell my heart beats for, but it isn't you, not anymore."
-Beau Taplin