A little while after Derek, my first boyfriend, had committed suicide,
(Maybe a month after?)
I was listening to music as I cleaned up my room,
And as I started to clean out my top drawer of
My nightstand, I came across the blue ring
He had given me when we first started dating.
(My heart nearly skipped a beat)
And right as I found that ring,
My music changed to a new song,
One I hadn’t heard in quite a while.
It was “For Good” from the musical "Wicked".
(That song reminded me of Derek)

"I've heard it said
That people come into our lives for a reason…
But I know I'm who I am today
Because I knew you"

The song played on as I studied the ring in my hand.

"You'll be with me
Like a handprint on my heart
And now whatever way our stories end
I know you have re-written mine
By being my friend..."

I could feel myself tearing up, but I didn’t really care.

"It well may be
That we will never meet again
In this lifetime
So let me say before we part
So much of me
Is made of what I learned from you"

And it was then that I realized that even though
I only knew Derek for such a short time, about a year,
He had changed my life,

"Who can say if I've been
Changed for the better?
I do believe I have been
Changed for the better"

He had shown me how to put
A new perspective on the little things in life.
Because of him, I learned to not take life for granted,
And see the humor, in both good times
And the worst of times.
It was then that I realized that I still did love him.

"Who can say if I've been
Changed for the better?
I do believe I have been
Changed for the better
And because I knew you...
Because I knew you...
Because I knew you...
I have been changed
for good."