To the exes who have made us who we are today,

Just because we’re not together anymore doesn’t mean there are hard feelings between us. Actually, it’s quite the opposite. You’ll always hold a special place in my heart regardless of when we broke up and how things left off.

Thank you for all of the incredible experiences, hard laughs, and unforgettable memories that I still think about every now and then. Thank you for bringing me to different restaurants that I still visit. Thank you for the awesome songs you showed me that I still listen to. Thank you for introducing me to new things, hobbies, and interests. And most importantly, thank you for being such an important part of my life, whether we were together for one month or three years.

Yes, we shared some amazing times, but we also had our rough patches filled with fights and tears. I’d be lying if I said there weren’t times I didn’t understand what I ever even saw in you or us. But whether we realized it then or not, everything we went through was necessary in order to shape us into the people who we are right now. And I’m so grateful because if it wasn’t for our time together, including the good times and the bad, neither of us would be where we are today.

If we never dated, we never would have learned some of our most valuable lessons. Now we know that what’s meant for us will always be for us, and never to settle, and always to fight for what we truly want. The things that drove us crazy about each other taught us what we will and won’t tolerate in our future relationships. As hard as it may be to comprehend when we’re in the heat of the moment, even when things don’t work out the way we plan them to, and no matter how badly we want them to, things will always work out the way they should in the end.

So cheers to us, the past, what we had, who we were, who we are now, and what’s to come. I hope that you find “the one” who you’ve been looking for, who clearly wasn’t me. You’ll find your person, and I’ll find mine — and we’ll both find love again.

Love always,

Your ex