Everyone loves a good love story. Growing up and constantly seeing romances be portrayed a certain way in movies, books, shows, and my own life gave my 10 year old self so much hope and excitement for the love that I’d encounter a few years later. When we’re little however, we only see the good parts. We don’t realize at a young age that along with relationships comes possible fights and a lot of the time it ends in heartbreak. Sometimes we get lucky and find someone who makes us see the world in a new light that we didn’t see prior to meeting them. I’d just like to take a second to thank the significant others of my past. I want it to show that each relationship you have will be completely different. We are all capable of loving people but we will all love differently.
To my first boyfriend,
I just want to thank you for teaching me what relationships shouldn’t be like. We started off good but I was too infatuated with the idea of being in love to notice that you were never in it for the right reasons. You were my first everything and over the course of a year and a half, you had slowly made sure that you became “my everything.” This should sound like a compliment but in this case, it was cruel. Thank you for teaching me that I should never stray from my friends and family to side with you. (Piece of advice: If your mom hates him, she’s right.) Thank you for teaching me that I shouldn’t have to ask for your permission to hang out with friends from the next town over because you were concerned my time and attention would no longer be centered on you. Thank you for teaching me that sometimes you can look at someone you think you love and watch them change right in front of you. I know now, almost 3 years later, that you were not my first love but I am forever grateful of the experience. Thank you for teaching me to fight like hell for what I believe in. Ultimately, you taught me how I don’t deserve to be treated and this set me on an adventure of recognizing my own self-worth.
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To the next,
Thank you for teaching me that communicating with the person you care for is so incredibly important. You were the type of boy who thought titles were overrated. I am not like that. So more often than not, I felt like I wasn’t being treated and care for as one should be in terms of a relationship. We were on two completely different pages and refused to discuss it – this was our hamartia. You proved to me that it’s not the end of the world if you and your significant other don’t have the same opinions or views towards certain things in life. I want to thank you for always making me laugh with your sarcastic comments and for inspiring me to never care what other people think of me. I’m a hopeless romantic, yet I admired you for never, ever being corny. Our generation is under the impression that a good relationship means showering one another with gifts and constantly show theming them off and frankly, it’s not always like that. We knew we were going to fizzle out but I thank you for all of the laughs. I do miss your dogs though.
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To the boy who surprised me,
I’m sorry that the timing was never right for us. It was always one thing or the other, but we’re firm believers in that everything happens for a reason. Always. We never dated but we knew there was always love lingering. Thank you for extending your divine taste in music over to me. Thank you for understanding when I needed you to be a friend and when I need you to be more than one. Thank for you teaching me that emotions are real and it is best not to bottle them up. I’m appreciative of you for many, many things and I’m happy we are still friends. Not the type of friends where we talk a lot, but the kind where I know if I ever need someone or something, you’ll be right there for me. Thank you for teaching me that people can surprise you and that a person’s reputation does not define them. You proved to me that no two people’s friendships are alike and that friendship comes with levels. I wish you nothing but the best.
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I had the pleasure of knowing each of these guys and I am very grateful. I hope all three of these men find a girl who fits their personalities and lives in a way that I could never. I wish them nothing but happiness and hope that they find true, pure love. Throughout the countless lessons and experiences I endured through my love life in the past, I learned something. You genuinely just need to sit back sometimes and let love find you. God will place a person intended for you in your life when the time is right. I also taught myself that no boy is ever worth any amount of stress or tears. If you go through a breakup, pick yourself up and persevere, ladies.
I was one of the lucky ones and snagged a great guy who I am currently dating now. He’s taught me so much more than any combination of letters I could ever try to write. He taught me to be proud of who I am, to be comfortable in my body and continuously drives me to reach my goals and grow a little more each and every day. He knows the little things like where my secret place is at the lake or what my sushi order is. I know for a fact that if he was not in my life I would not be anywhere close to the person that I try to be. And for that, I thank him.
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