Everybody has their first with somebody. Their first kiss, their first crush, their first lifelong friend, and their first lover. Some of these people get under our skin, and no matter how hard we try to remove the thought of them, we can't. We all want our firsts to last, and we never forget who we shared our firsts with because they are the starting brick towards building the path to a life that matters.

Throughout our lives, we meet people who become part of our past, our present, and our future lives. There is one person who is and will always be my past and present. A certain someone who got under my skin since the day I met them and as it turns out this person was one of my firsts. There are things I wish I could say to you in person, "Hello"s and "Goodbye"s I wish could have said at different moments. Yet, with everything that has been said between us, there are some things better written to see than said to hear. These are my words better written down than said, to you.

You may not always realize it, but I will always be an ear to listen, a heart to heal, a shoulder to cry on, and a person to embrace.

You taught me the importance of never giving up, of chasing my dreams, and becoming who I am meant to be whatever the cost. For that, I will be forever grateful.

Our past doesn’t define our present, but it does influence it. The past we shared, the memories we made, and the writings we have written, will forever be the first puzzle piece found in my life. A piece of a puzzle still building, and still evolving every day. The way I act now, compared to the way I acted before, is very different. I learned so much from you and how much my actions can change how others view me as a person I wouldn’t even recognize, and in order for me to fix it, I need to take a deep breath, step back, and think.

You once told me that you want to leave a memory in someone’s heart. Not only are you a memory in my heart, you are always a part of it. The memory of you in my heart will always be another reason for it to keep beating, and for me to keep living.

Helping you advance in your life will always be a priority in my life, regardless of who else is a part of it.

I hope that, with everything being written down this finds you at some point in your life. When it does, I hope you realize being a part of someone's life doesn’t mean they have to become a memory at some point. Sometimes, all we need is for somebody to remind us that we matter. That being said I leave you and anybody who reads this with this:

You matter.