My dearest James,

I haven’t eaten in days, and I can’t go any longer without saying these words. I love you. I always have, and I should have told you before now—-maybe then, things would be different. But I’ve decided to take that job in Georgia. By the time you’re reading this, I’ll already be gone.

I want to thank you for the times we’ve shared over the years. I embrace every moment we’ve spent growing together and learning from each other. I hope that someday in the future, we see each other again. I’d smile at you as the feeling of a thousand suns overwhelms me. Hell, I might even cry. Not out of sadness, pain, or regret, but out of thankfulness for you.

Without you, I wouldn’t know how deeply I could love. If I had known all those years ago that knowing you would rearrange my life, I’d still do it all over again.

I’m not scared to start this next chapter of my life because I know that my feelings are real. But I can’t be with you, because that would mean giving up my dream. Giving up my dream would be unfair to me. If I give up, then I’d lose who I am, and I don’t want that.

So I must go now. I must go and live out my dream and be as happy as I can be, knowing I’m leaving a piece of my heart behind.

I’ll never forget you. But I have to do this for me.

With all my love,

Mary