I didn't know then just how much of an impact you would have all had on me. I didn't know then just how irrelevant you would one day become. I didn't know then just how detrimental you had been to my physical and mental health.

P: Your Justin Bieber like hair had drawn me in, and I had never felt like that before. A "long distance love affair" was not quite what I had had in mind, but you being 2,300 miles away the summer I fell in love was not quite what I had in mind either. My first "love". You were everything I thought I needed. Your kind words will always hold a place in my heart, a place where the first boy I ever truly cried over will forever belong. There was a connection, but not the kind that would last the rest of my life. So as I say goodbye to that part of my life, I want to say thank you. Thank you for showing compassion to me when my emotions were going haywire, and thank you for showing me what I deserve and what I don't deserve. To the boy I loved in eighth grade, thank you.

J: I still remember the Christmas following our breakup, where my parents got me a video camera so I could make video diaries for my future daughter, a "Good Luck Charlie" type of thing. I remember crying into the camera for hours, telling her that she would hear about you forever, and your name would be carved into her head. I remember telling the camera that I could never love someone the way I loved you. Oh, the exaggeration. The words you said to me will forever be engraved in my mind, just as your initials will always be engraved into my skin. Little did I know that a ninth grader could be that insecure, and little did I know just how negatively your words would affect my self-esteem. The "fat" on my body was a "pillow" to you, and the way you acted towards my body was disgusting. That being said, I did learn a lot about what I want from a relationship, and I'm grateful it was not you. So as I say goodbye to that part of my life, I want to say thank you. Thank you for proving to me that no matter what a man has to say about my body, it does not change my worth. Thank you for showing me that I am more than you deserved and more than you could ever handle. To the boy I thought I would never get over, thank you.

M: I never loved you, and I never could. But just because I didn't love you does not mean you didn't have an influence on my life and who I would eventually become. You took something from me -- something I can never get back. You took advantage of an innocence that was meant to be taken by someone I love. An innocence that I can never get back. Hospital after hospital, I begged someone to make everything okay. Nothing worked. Incisions in my skin did nothing to change what you had done and what you had left me feeling. I am so grateful for that part of my life to be over, but even to you, a man who had no right to steal what you did, I am thankful to you. While I never could have recognized it at the moment, you did me a favor. You showed me how much I deserve, how beautiful my body is, and how important it is to never give up, no matter how much I may have wanted to. You didn't deserve that part of me, but I deserve the self-love it gave to me. To the boy who knew my body when I didn't even know it myself, thank you.

I didn't know then just how much of an impact you all would have had on me. I didn't know just how little love I had for you.

To the Boy I Love Now

I thank god for you every day. I may not be religious but I know that you were put in my life for a reason, and each day, I find a new way to love and be loved by you. You have not only helped me through everything I have gone through over the past three years, but you have influenced my self-esteem in such a positive way. I never knew I deserved a love like this, but thank god for a love like ours. Thank you for showing me what I am, and who I can become. Thank you for your constant reassurance, I know it's not always easy. Thank you for your support and your love and for just being you. Thank you forever and a day.