Hope for Better Things

My ex-boyfriend bought me a Giving Key necklace for Christmas a year ago. The word he chose for me was Hope. I had been struggling with anxiety and severe depression for our entire relationship, and all he wanted for me was to have hope that things could change and get better for me, and they did, because of him. He gave me this hope that I wasn't alone and that I was more than my mental illness. He made me feel like change was possible, and I acquired this hope from being with him that there was still good in the world. Although we've since broken up, I still wear the key every day as a reminder of what he gave to me. When I'm feeling helpless and lost, I look down at the key around my neck and I feel the four letters engraved in this key that means so much to me, and it helps me remember to never stop having hope in good people and better things. It was more than just a necklace that I received a year ago; it was so much more.

-Annie