To The One I Once Loved, Thank You

I never knew the kind of love that existed until our worlds collided. I never knew that kind of pain that existed until those same worlds came crumbling down. We broke each other’s hearts and left our lives in ruins. Sleepless nights, tear-stained pillows, and endless heart ache. To the one I once loved – thank you.

I was young and fearless when my heart first melted at your feet. Love at first sight and all, we fell for one another just as Nicholas Sparks and every country song described. Summer nights that never seemed to end, immersed in an unfathomable infatuation for each other. You were my first – first boyfriend, first love, first everything. We’d find old back roads under star painted skies and talk all night, sharing our inner most thoughts, hopes, and dreams. We fell harder each hour of each day.

You told me you knew I was the one and that one day you’d make me your wife. You told me we were the lucky ones – the ones lucky enough to find the love of their life, the ones with a forever kind of thing. To the one I once loved – thank you.

Thank you for teaching me so much about life and love and friendship. Thank you for two years of earth shaking, world turning, fire starting, beautiful love; for the realest friendship and most encouraging support, for the copious adventures and myriad of weekend warrior trips. Thank you for being my love, my counselor, my nurse, my chauffeur, my comedian, my rock, and my friend.

Thank you for showing me how a man is supposed to treat a woman and teaching me to never settle.

To the one I once loved – thank you for breaking my heart. We live in a world where there is this precept that “falling in love” and “finding” the one is life’s ultimate goal. And I once believed that. But what I’ve learned is that love is not something that you fall into or find. Love is something you consciously and intentionally create.

However I thank you because we are meant to fall in other ways – thank you for breaking my heart and allowing me to fall in love with Jesus Christ. Thank you for making me learn how to fall in love with life. Where my world was once left in ruins, it is now built on a stronger foundation, a foundation of faith that cannot be shaken. Where I once depended on you, I now depend on Him. Where our love once brought me a glowing joy, now I rejoice in His everlasting light. I now know that there is only one love that is forever and with that love there is always hope. To the one I once loved – thank you.

You set my standards so high that I didn’t think any man would ever compare. I never thought I’d love again in such a manner that I was able to love you. But love is something that we choose to create.

To the one I once loved – thank you because now I know how to love the man that I am with the way he deserves to be loved. Thank you for helping me recognize the mistakes I made in the past so that I won’t make them in the presences. Thank you for making me wait patiently for this man to come along, who brings me the love and joy and happiness I pray that you find again as well.

To the one I once loved, because of you I am a better partner, friend, and person. Because of you I discovered the faith in my life I had been missing. Because of you I can now be the woman, girlfriend, wife, and partner I am meant to be.

Although it’s not you that I will be spending my life with, thank you for preparing me for the man that I will be sharing it with. Thank you for all that you taught me and gave me.

To the one I once loved – thank you.