So hard to say goodbye.

In two days, my diary will turn 13-years-old. It seems almost fitting that while reaching such a milestone we’re about to part ways (isn’t that how it usually goes).

I first started my diary as a high school senior, connecting with friends while I wrote about boys I had crushes on, issues with my parents and impending graduation. After I graduated, I wrote infrequently, apologizing for not keeping better notes of my life as it progressed. My tale, like so many others, is basically about getting swept along in life, forgetting the tasks that once was so important to me.

My heart is heavy at the news that my favorite diary system is shutting down. We knew the end was coming, so many technical issues. And who would blame them for this decision? These servers hold the secrets of thousands and thousands of people. Some secrets locked away behind a password safeguard, while others anonymously shout their secrets from behind computer screens. I was always the latter.

Open diary has taught me so much and through using it, I’ve gained a better insight into friendships, a better understanding of who I am and also found support when I needed it when I was in an abusive relationship.

Better yet, it allowed me to make connections with people whom I will forever cherish. My darling Chrissey met her then boyfriend (and an acquaintance of mine) on OD. He paid to bring her here, to my hometown, and while their relationship didn’t work, ours flourished. It was a connection that would ultimately lead me to her doorstep, after leaving my abusive ex, and asking for a place to stay, with which I was welcomed with open arms.

I also allowed my now fiancé to read my diary, as a way to get a better understanding of who I am as a person and all of the things I’ve struggled with and continue to struggle with.

But better yet, Open Diary allowed me an outlet, with no judgments to face all of the things I needed to face. For that, I will be eternally grateful. I don’t know where this next chapter of my life will take me but I’m sure it will be somewhere spectacular.

Thank you OD, for always being there when I needed you most and to all of my fellow writers, OD keepers and insightful readers, may our paths some day cross again. <3

Desiree