Dear Ex-Best Friend,
You not being in my life has taught me so much.
I would never take back the time you were in my life or how much I cared about you. Honestly, I wouldn’t even want to take back the fact that you walked away. You being around one day and gone the next was the first big experience I had with losing someone I loved, and that gave me a new perspective I needed.
I always considered myself a decent friend. But growing up I longed to have the countless friends that other girls seemed to have. Instead, I found myself surrounded by a select few people—though they were strong friendships, I still felt like I was missing out…until you changed that.
The timing was perfect. Though I wished every day until graduation that you were still around, I don’t think that I was what you needed in your life or that you were any good for me. Regardless, you walking away still troubled me. We once talked about going to college together, but instead I started a new part of my life knowing no one and convinced I would never find new friendships.
Oh how I was wrong, and I have you to thank for that. You showed me what it is to lack friendship and to feel alone. If I never felt this way, I don’t think I would appreciate true friendship as much as I do now. In the crazy way the universe works, I went from feeling the most alone I had ever felt to having the closest, most real friends.
The beauty of it is, you taught me how to appreciate them so much more. You made me realize that them choosing to be in my life was the best thing anyone could do for me. Those friendships that I had but still longed for more? You taught me that it isn’t about the number, but the amount of care and respect put in.
If there’s one thing I give you credit for, it’s for helping me understand what people are worth it. Maybe us being in each other’s lives wasn’t what was meant to be, but I now know what people I am meant to go through life with, and for that I will always be grateful to have had you walk away.
Sincerely,
The friend you walked away from