A Letter To Men Who've Come and Gone

Dear Men Who've Come and Gone,

Thank you for coming, thank you for going. Thank you for the one nighters and the 100 nighters. Thank you for leaving me crying and making me realize what I really needed. Thank you for making me realize I needed you. That I didn't need you. Thank you for hitting me just to hurt me. Thank you for being so wonderful and kind. Thank you for showing me how a man should be. Thank you for reiterating that you are still a boy. Thank you for the wonderful birthdays. Thank you for the birthdays you ruined. Thank you for helping me figure me out. Thank you for leaving to figure you out. Thank you for staying and doing it together. Thank you for missing me and letting me know. Thank you for ignoring me and going on with your day. Thank you for dealing with a woman who cares too much. Thank you for dealing with a woman who could care less. Thank you for hanging up on me and showing me just how human fathers are. Thank you for making it hard to breathe, but making it easier, better, good. Thank you for showing me what it's like to trust and then showing me exactly why I shouldn't. Thank you for the times when we were so happy, we couldn't believe there were any roadblocks up ahead. Thank you for weathering storms. Thank you for fleeing like FEMA. Thank you for the laughter-the incredible, heart-stopping, tears in eyes laughter. There are few I laugh with like that and few that I probably will. Thank you for the nights of passion. The nights that made me feel incredible. Thank you for the nights that had zero passion. Thank you for making me sit by a phone that wouldn't ring. Thank you for calling right on time. Thank you for the movies, both in the theater, big screen above or the ones on the couch, curled around each other, feeling safe. Thank you for making me feel beautiful, for telling me as much as possible. Thank you for not telling me and forcing me to see it for myself. Thank you for getting rid of us when I didn't have the guts to do it. Thank you for taking a stand and making me dig deeper, be a better person. Thank you for the times we fell asleep together, content and without fear. Thank you for not crowding my sleeping space. Thank you for pushing me out the bed. Thank you for waking up next to me, for telling me I'm best with no make up on. Thank you for being like gravity, pulling me down, gasping for air. Thank you for yanking be back to reality and shattering fantasy worlds. Thank you for marrying her, for giving her all your drama as a lifetime gift. Thank you for sparing me. Thank you for the songs that remind me of you. Thank you for the vacations, both long and short, cheap and expensive. Thank you for buying the ring. Thank you for taking it back. Thank you for the nights where we stayed up eating cupcakes, playing scrabble, telling stories, sharing who we were. Thank you for sharing who you were with me. Thank you for the nights of tears. Thank you for helping make me stronger. Thank you for being strong, for being a man when I needed a man. Thank you for being soft and fragile, a moment for me alone. Thank you for being selfish and wanting me and only me. Thank you for not knowing what you wanted. Thank you for the clarity. Thank you for the confusion. Thank you for the light you brought to my life. Thank you for the darkness that you spread like a blanket. Thank you for your season, your reason. Thank you for the thank you's. Thank you and you're welcome.

B.