All I Want

I am painfully aware of how hard it must be to support me sometimes. I'm not always good at explaining why something is not helpful. I'm not always good at letting people know how they can help me. I'm not always good at even asking for help when I need it. It feels complicated and messy and confusing.

But when it comes down to it, it really isn't all that complicated.

All I want is someone to love me. I don't need to be fixed. I don't need someone to take it all away. I don't need perfect advice or a fool-proof plan of action. I just need to be loved.

All I want is to be treated like a person. I'm not a charity case. I'm not broken beyond repair. I'm not your next project. I'm just a person, with hobbies and dreams and dad jokes.

All I want is to be seen for me. Not what I've been through. Not what happened to me. Not how sad or devastating or angering my story is. But for me, a passionate, stubborn, sometimes silly 20-something with big plans and a bigger sock collection.

All I want is you. To be a part of my life now. To share in adventures with me. To be a shoulder to cry on. To be a fancy dinner for my birthday and pizza on a Tuesday night kind of friend. You don't have to fix me. You don't have to take away the hurt. I just want you to be there, to do life with me.

Thank you for loving me.

Thank you for treating me like a person.

Thank you for seeing me for me.

Thank you for being there.

Thank you for doing life with me.