Five months ago today, you should have arrested me. You went so far as to bring me to the station in your car. I was obviously guilty. But for whatever reason, you let me off with a warning. I can’t even explain how thankful I am.

First of all, I am thankful that you you found me. I was slipping into some bad stuff while away at college. I didn’t know it until after we met that I hated everything I was becoming. While you shined your light in my eyes, I thought of younger me, and of how surprised she would have been by this whole situation. That was not where I had seen myself. You were the scare I needed to get me back on the straight and narrow.

Second of all, I am thankful that you let me go. With a drug record, I would not have been able to get the job I am in school for. I probably wouldn’t have been able to get the stupid summer job I have right now. Realizing how much I would have lost has made me so grateful for everything I can have.

I’m sure you figured that filling out the paperwork would be more trouble than it would be worth for getting some burnout kid in trouble. I’m sure when you let me go, you figured you would probably find me again sometime, and then you would have to arrest me. But you decided to give me a second chance. I bet kids like me get second chances all the time, but instead of really thinking about what happened, they figure they can just get away with it again. I just want you to know that even there is never another kid to take this to heart, and to use their second chance, you still changed a life. My life. I am a better person, because you let me go.

Thank you.