Thank you for helping me get here. For helping me become the person I am now, and for allowing me the space to become the person I needed to be. Yes, it's unfortunate that I couldn't get here with you still by my side, and sure, there were instances in which I needed to create that space, but I am who I am and you were a big part of that. You still are, whether or not we talk anymore. Rarely do I turn down an opportunity to reflect on what we had, what it meant to me, and, after I came out the other side, how it helped me become a more true version of myself. It doesn't matter if our time lasted one night, one month, or one quarter of a decade. Everything that's ever happened to me has gotten me to this point, including you, and I don't want to (nor will I) shy away from acknowledging that truth. It's important for me to internalize that we won't have anything close to what we did, if anything at all - that's been a struggle for me to come to terms with in some instances - but as I once convinced myself, it's possible to love what you had with someone without loving that person anymore. So thank you for what we had, and thank you for being important to me even without what we had. I wouldn't give it back, because then I wouldn't be me.
