Dear friends,

I’ve always eaten with people that I don’t know at the lunch table. Rather than face the embarrassment of eating alone, I would join a random table in the lunchroom, gulp down my food as soon as possible, and then go to the library. Life went well for me, until a girl at the lunch table I had chosen one day asked me, “Why are you sitting here? Don’t you have friends Mozelle?”

It was then that I became ashamed of myself. It hit me that no, I didn’t have friends. I realized that I was the only one who didn’t have a partner for group assignments, and that became humiliating. I started to notice when people chose to ignore me, just because I wasn’t part of their friend group, and boy, did that hurt. I would come home from school and cry. I didn’t just feel lonely. I felt alone. And as I watched my older siblings leave the house one by one, I actually saw myself become more and more alone. I was too shy to reach out and make friends, so after some time, I just accepted my life and gave up on the idea of true friends completely.

Then somehow, I stumbled upon you guys – the ones who found me. Never in a million years would I have ever thought I would have true friends. I never thought I would discover a little niche of people just like me with goals just like mine. I never thought I could have weekend plans so many times in a row. I never thought I could laugh that hard and smile that big. I never thought that I could care so much for someone and think about someone all day. When I’m with you all, nothing else matters. When I’m with you all, I am unbelievably happy.

Thank you for finding me. Thank you for taking me in and accepting me. You disregarded rumors and stereotypes and loved me for the person I am inside, the person that no one had found yet because they didn’t take the time. But you did. You have done so much for me, and everything you have done, and everything you continue to do, I am unimaginably thankful for. I wish to return 1000 times more the love and support you’ve all shown me. I love you all so so much. Thank you.

Love, Mozelle.