Stronger

G.C., 

I still remember the first time we held hands, the first smile we shared, the first laugh.

 

But the thing I remember the most is when you broke my heart.

 

You left me shattered in pieces on the floor with no broom, no pan to sweep up the ashes I had become. 

 

You left me trapped in a cavern of inescapable darkness, nothing for me to grasp, no one to hear my cries for help. 

 

You told me you loved me, but you could just as easily say that to the girl down the street.

 

You told me I was beautiful, but you told me to cut my hair. Cutting out my identity. 

 

You told me you missed me, but all you wanted was someone to control.

 

You called me names, and after it all, you completely ignored my existence within your life.

 

After everything you've done, I only have one thing I want to tell you:

 

 

Thank You.

 

 

Thank you for calling me names, for I know my name will forever be stained on your tongue with its purity. I now know that what others think does not define me. For I am me, and who I am is beautiful.

 

Thank you for all the lies, for now I know to trust in myself and expect nothing from anyone.

 

Thank you for calling me beautiful, for now I can truly see myself. I am the captain of my own self esteem. I can look in the mirror and see that I am beauty, within and without. I will never lose sight of my identity. 

 

Thank you for telling me you loved me and not meaning it, for now I know how to love myself. I know one must love themselves before loving another. 

 

Thank you for trapping me in the dark, for now I have become my own light, cutting through shadows of depression. Grasping the stones of a better tomorrow, hoping, knowing, the light of the sun's rays will touch my skin again. 

 

Thank you for leaving me shattered, for now I know how to rise from the ashes, to mend together what was once broken. My hands are brooms, sweeping up the pieces of what I once was. I now can rely on myself.

 

 

Thank you for making me who I am today: Stronger.