I know that in this life we nurture too many dreams and wishes, setting an array of goals for ourselves. We sometimes raise the barriers too high and make things unnecessarily difficult for ourselves. We become too harsh, setting restrictions that are impossibly elevated for our own spirits to reach. But I would like to present the other perspective as well—that we venture out in search of happiness for ourselves, and our fulfillment becomes intricately attached to certain things and phenomena. That is precisely why desires take root in our hearts in the first place. Because in the end, we simply yearn for happiness. We just can’t comprehend embracing the opposite of good in the end.
And this becomes the diabolical, ambivalent situation that life presents to us—a place we desperately want to inhabit but simply cannot find the air to breathe. These dreams and wishes are to life what air is to breathing. But the tragic irony is that our desire and relentless search for the very air that sustains us has suffocated us instead. The withered winds have drained the color from our faces, and the scars clearly reveal the countless years we have spent entrenched in this struggle.
In all ways, these might appear to be the signs of a defeated person, but in reality, these are the hands of Somebody who fights—Somebody who rises up again and again. Somebody who refuses to surrender, Somebody who persists and continues forward. Different people react to identical situations in vastly different ways, and it is only after witnessing some give up entirely that I have come to realize how remarkably resilient Somebody truly was.
It is after seeing some people break down and cry that I began recognizing how extraordinarily strong Somebody had been all along. It is after walking alongside some people who deliberately neglected this darker, more challenging route that I understood how incredibly brave Somebody was to traverse this path. It is after watching, after visiting through each of those hospital rooms and witnessing people scream in anguish, that I realized how remarkably quiet and composed she has been through her own suffering. And it is after those countless, numbered attempts—each one a testament to her persistence—that I truly comprehended how resilient she is. And then I noticed—I registered this profound realization—that I had never thanked Somebody. I had never truly appreciated Somebody for all her courage, for all this remarkable bravery, strength, and resilience that she consistently demonstrated.
And because of my inexcusable ungratefulness, Somebody had to battle not only her circumstances but also my lack of recognition and appreciation. So I would like to lift the heavy stone of ingratitude from the weight of Somebody’s accumulated miseries and finally, genuinely thank her.
So, This Is a Thank You Letter. This is a heartfelt thank you letter for Somebody—for all her admirable qualities and noble efforts. It is simply to acknowledge that I am profoundly grateful to her for everything she accomplished, for everything she aspired to achieve, for everything she managed to overcome and endure. Even when we couldn’t attain certain goals, I recognize that she gave her absolute best effort, remained steadfastly by my side, and never once abandoned me.
I will never forget those moments when Somebody was so bold, so fearless, so utterly dauntless in the face of adversity. I want to express my eternal gratitude for whatever she has accomplished and endured. I simply want to remind her that even when circumstances don’t unfold according to our plans, we can at least find solace in knowing that we tried with genuine effort—we did our very best, we did everything within our power.
So I might just want to tell Somebody that the endings might not even matter to me anymore. Now that I have tried to perceive it from this different perspective, now that I have realized that Somebody gave her absolute best, I understand that this recognition itself could be the source of happiness for all of it. The manner in which she accomplished everything is simply beyond my comprehension. And I believe that only she possessed the strength and determination to have achieved it all. And indeed, she has done it. That is precisely why I am more than grateful to her—I am profoundly, endlessly thankful.
And that is the extraordinary specialty of Somebody. She is not a superhero draped in a cape or endowed with supernatural powers. She possesses something far more precious—her unwavering resilience, her authentic bravery, her indomitable will to never surrender. She remained present when I desperately wanted to give up, when I became utterly fed up with everything around me.
I have come to realize that I have been such an ungrateful soul living on this earth. Even after witnessing everything she endured and accomplished, it never occurred to me that Somebody might also need to hear genuine words of appreciation and recognition. So this is my pure, unadorned thank you to her—for doing countless things, for surpassing expectations in so many ways, for standing beside me through it all, for simply doing whatever she possibly could.
And that’s the profound beauty of it all.
Poor little hairy kids out on their own
They ran to the festival to show that they were one
They've fallen in love with all humankind
So, tell them you love them, so they don't change their mind
Give the poet a poem and the singer a song
And tell us you love us
So we don't feel alone
So we don't feel alone
So we don't feel alone
You gotta tell us you love us
So we don't feel all alone
___ Good Book, Ezra Furman
