Illuminated Letter

hank you.  Thank you for coming into my life, for igniting the fire of my being.   Until you, I was not me, not the me that I needed to become.  Until you, I didn't know who that person was.   You created me and for that, I am forever in your debt.

As children we are, essentially, an extension of our parents.  We are a   placeholder among our siblings.  We are an entry in the family Bible, a leaf on the family tree, an extra deduction in April.  While a child may have a tremendous personality, and an incredible potetntial, what they are, in youth, is pedigree. 

We spend much of our adolescent lives trying to decipher who we are, trying to mold ourselves to the definition we wish we were, trying on suits of adult clothes until we find the look we're after.  That image is reflected in the glass of our peers, of our family, of our society.  But for most of us, it's a fad.  It lasts until we are adults, not just until we think we are.

So who was I?  I don't remember.  I was not who I am until you.  It was all practice and dress up and play acting until you.  I began with you.  It is not rose coloured hyperbole or fantastic romance.  Without you, the person that I am, the person that I am happiest that I am does not exist. 

And so, I thank you.  I thank you for illuminating me.