Dear Jen & John:

When I think about my college years, you two inevitably come to mind.

We played flute in wind ensemble for three years under Dr. Brock’s direction, chairs one, two and three. We practiced and performed who knows how many hours together. You were music majors, I was a NON-music major. But you welcomed me just the same.

I felt comfortable around you from day one. Period. There was no adjustment period. There was no getting to know you. There was no pretending. There was nothing but authenticity from the start. And I’ll be honest, that’s what I loved about you the most.

It’s incredible, really, how I could be myself around you. Over the course of my life, I’ve met just a handful or two of people with whom I felt 100% at ease. I include you two in that unique group. That gift you gave, the gift of authenticity? It means the world to me.

Whether we engaged for 2 minutes, 10 minutes, 2 hours, or overnight on a wind ensemble trip, I was at ease with you. We laughed, we were goofy and kooky, and others might have even thought we were a little nerdy at times. 🙂 But we got each other, we understood each other, we meshed like mashed potatoes and gravy, peas and carrots, rice and beans. We talked about anything and everything. The hippest and coolest trends were not our gig, the latest buzz words were not in our vocabulary.

We came together to perform beautiful music, but when it came to our relationship, performance was never the name of the game. You were real with me, and I was real with you. No airs were about us, no secrets were held. All the cards were on the table. It wasn’t forced, it just was the way it was.

Our relationship was a BIG breath of fresh air.

A relationship so rare, it’s a gift. So today, I thank you for that gift. Thank you for being you. Thank you for letting me be me. 100%, both ways.

Sitting long and still in the beauty and authenticity of our relationship,

Amy

*If you’d like to read more from my #31Days Letters to the Unthanked series, click here for the landing page where all the letters are listed and linked!