I've resented you for so long, but I wanted to say thank you.

Thank you for leaving me.

The best thing you did for me was leave. I stopped waiting by the door for you, and boy, did I wait for a long time. The moment I broke from that was the moment I stopped allowing you to control the hand over my heart that made me feel I was responsible for this. I have become independent: because of you. Your absence has shown me that I do not need someone to validate that I am worthy of love. I have learned that life is hard, but the things that make it easier in the moment are not the things that will bring us happiness throughout our lives. You must invest yourself in lifelong happiness. I am worth that investment.

Thank you for making me strong.

I'll give you credit for this: I became strong. Guarded but, strong. The hurt you've inflicted on our family has made us closer. We have created a bond that is able to pull us through anything. As difficult as it is to explain to people why I'm hard and stubborn, it was above all harder to explain that to my siblings - that they will understand some day when their time waiting by the door for you has run its course. And they will grow to be strong as well.

Thank you for teaching me my worth.

You made me conscious of the fact that I will never risk this choice for myself. I will never have a substance control my life so far that my family and what I love does not matter. I am worth more than being controlled.

Thank you for showing me I deserve more.

You became the prime example of what I would never allow someone to do to me. I will never choose a friend, a lover, a husband: with an addiction. My future family will never feel the pain of being second in someone's life after an addiction.