What I should have been thankful for once.

I was having a really hard time trying to figure out what I was thankful for. It's not that I have nothing to be thankful for, because I have so much. It's that I take everything and everyone for granted. Which is why this isn't really about what I'm thankful for right now, because I'm going to go out and actually thank those people, or things- which may come off a little crazy if anybody watches me talking to my car telling it how thankful I am for its safety features that have kept me alive these past months. This is going to be focused on the people I should have thanked once upon a time but never got around to it. Whether by good or bad means, these people all changed me for the better. And that deserves all of my gratitude. This may take a really long time. Sorry. And also sorry if you happen to be one of these random people I'm all about showing late gratitude for. Because its so late, and also because its so random. I know it has been a long time since I've been friends with some of you, but I'll never forget the friends who led me into kindergarten, adolescence, and whatever now is.
Thank you, to the girl who told me when I was two years old I was good enough to be her friend. Who was my sister, both through friendship -and blood after we cut our fingers and dropped our blood in apple juice, and even though we decided it was too gross to drink we knew our blood would always be intertwined somewhere deep in the sewage system below her house. Who tried to keep our friendship alive through phone calls and sleepovers even after I moved and switched to public school and stopped playing basketball and started playing traveling soccer instead of on the team your dad coached. Who knew when we no longer had anything in common but a past. Who could let go.
...Thank you, to the neighbors who welcomed me into their world once upon a time. Thank you for making it easier for me to leave my old best friends behind and start fresh with new ones. Thank you for being the new ones then and the old ones now. Thank you to the neighbor I always fought with, and the one with whom I've never had a fight. I'm sorry that it never really balanced out. Thank you for putting up with me as long as you could when even I'm willing to admit I was an unbearable friend back then. ..Thank you to the girl next door who almost always forgave me for the drama I caused, and who laughed with me about it later on. ..Thank you to the girl across the street who explored the woods with me and built forts and sat with me on her roof and made me realize what a best friend truly was for those few short years. Both of your houses are currently occupied by young children who I can only hope will one day have half as much fun on that street was we used to....Thank you to the friend who still exists in so many of my stories. Whose remembered whenever I'm asked about my most embarrassing moment or how I got the nickname Mimz. Thank you being involved in so many memories and thank you for everything you did way back when. You always knew exactly what I needed to hear, even if it wasn't what I wanted to hear. ...Thank you to the two girls that I always tried to get rid of but always found it way too hard. Thank you for making me laugh even when I was sure I could kill you. Thank you for pushing me to do my best even if that wasn't really what you intended. Thank you for being both convenient and comfortable despite the fact that "best friends" for us was never really more than the heading on top of a photo booth picture with the three of us in it. ...Thank you to the boy who spent everyday pointing out my flaws and still somehow managed to be my most durable friendship. Who taught me to laugh at myself, and although I'm sure it wasn't the intent: to be confident. Who I hope I taught something to along the way, but what I can't say. Whose friendship, despite my many efforts, I can't live without. ...Thank you to the friend who let me crash into a million pieces on his hardwood floor and then convinced me it was time to move forward. Who held my hand as I confessed everything. Who never judged or assumed but always listened. Who took me, baggage and all and called me his sister. Who was my brother for our too short lived friendship. ...Thank you to the girl who took me down the wrong path. Who understood me and let me make the mistakes I needed to make. Who taught me what a mistake really was. ...Thank you to the friend that told me what I was doing wrong. Even if that was the only thing she ever said that I really heard. ..Thank you to the boys that let me hurt them and never even thought about hurting me. And thank you to the few that did. ..Thank you to the friends that have slipped through the cracks in my memory after all this time. I'm grateful that every single one of you passed through my life. I learned from every last one of you what it means when somebody says "Don't take things for granted". I'm sorry it took me so long.