Dear Queen,

First of all, happy (belated) birthday. I know — it's late, and that's entirely my fault. I want to be honest with you, because you deserve nothing less than that.

On your birthday, I didn't reach out. I didn't send a message, or even a simple "happy birthday." And when you asked me about it — when you gave me the perfect chance to just be honest — I made it worse. I dodged your question. I gave you excuses instead of the truth, and that was wrong of me.

You are someone who deserved to feel celebrated on your special day. Instead, I let you down — and then I let you down again by not owning it. There's no good excuse for that, and I won't insult you by trying to come up with one.

What I can do is tell you how truly sorry I am. Not the kind of sorry that's just a word — but the kind that means I've thought about this, I've felt bad about it, and I genuinely wish I could go back and do it differently.

You deserve a friend who shows up. I want to be that friend. And I hope — I really hope — that you'll give me the chance to make it right.

With all my sincerity,
Jeeksma 💙