To one of the strongest young women I know:
Everyone has that one semester. Maybe you go out too much and your grades slip. Maybe you don’t have enough fun and your friendships drift apart. Maybe you’re too emotionally drained to function.
But this wasn’t one of those. This was a semester from hell, and any single instance of what made it so bad could have driven anyone to abandon their academic responsibilities, isolate themselves, or even drop out completely.
But not you. Despite having your heart broken by the end of a long term relationship, instead of turning to another boy for love and attention, you turned to yourself. Everyone knows one of the easiest and quickest ways to mend a broken heart is to give it away to someone else as a distraction, but that’s never healthy. You took the time and had the patience to care for yourself and even look for ways to improve things you had been struggling with, and your efforts have not gone unnoticed.
Despite having your heart broken again in a different way because of struggles within your family, you still hold your family as the most important thing to you, as it should be. You’ve done everything you can to handle a messy situation, as divorce often is, and you’ve done your best even while nobody could ever give you the perfect advice. Your family is eminently lucky to have someone like you in their lives.
Despite transferring from a college you had grown so comfortable with to a new school hours away — a new school where you knew you would be challenged beyond anything you could prepare for — you worked your a** off and earned outstanding grades that anyone would be proud of. You might not always feel like it, but to me, you’re incredibly independent, and you know how to take care of yourself better than many people our age do.
I have to say on my own behalf that I wasn’t there for you as much as I should have been, because 400 miles should never come between two best friends, especially when one is hurting as much as you were last semester. Distance will never make us drift apart, but I had let it prevent me from giving you the extra love and care that you needed, and for that I am truly sorry.
However, this letter isn’t supposed to be about what went wrong, but what you did right. You still had a blast, made amazing friendships, strengthened the ones you already had, and even then, you asked for help when you knew you needed it. You truly made the best out of the worst, and I’m too proud of you for words.
Things are only going to get better from here.
Love,
Your Long Distance BFF