Gratitude letter

After much consideration, I decided to write my gratitude letter to my boyfriend of two years, John. At first I wasn’t sure if I was going to write to him, because we live together and I assumed that he knew how much I appreciated him and why but it turns out I was mistaken. Writing the letter was difficult and I procrastinated because I knew that it would make me emotional to compose my thoughts and then to read them out loud (and i thought this exercise wasn’t due until the next time that the class met!). I did get a bit teary when I realized how much I’ve depended on John and how he’s been my number one supporter since I decided to return to school full time.
He’s been a bit unhappy himself the last few months because we have moved away form North Seattle to the South where there is not as much to do. I realized through this exercise why I have felt guilty in regards to his current emotional state. John and I had planned to move in together but because I was so unhappy in Olympia last year and wanted to move back to the city he sacrificed a great living situation to move in with me in South Seattle. While I am much happier than I was in Olympia, it seems we have reversed roles. I thanked him for being so selfless in making this move on my behalf .
The actual reading of the letter was very emotional. I cried the whole time I was reading. I think I have a tendency to take it for granted that I think John knows how I feel about him and why. I do tell him how I feel but not as often as I should. I don’t think he realized that I looked up to him in so many ways and attribute much of my personal growth in the last few years to his stable and logical influence. I’m not sure where I would be today if we hadn’t met. He was actually a bit surprised by the whole exercise and told me that he never knew that I felt so grateful towards him. I think he really appreciated it and then started talking about writing some letters of gratitude of his own. I feel that writing this letter has brought us closer together and helped me to express my feelings in a way that I never would have done independently because it focused on the strength of gratitude alone.