Waiting for an Apology That May Never Come

I've always thought of myself as a forgiving person. People make mistakes. They apologize. You get over it. But it's been a hard one these past few months when a family member has hurt you and not even possibly realized she made a mistake. What do you do then?

My tattoo I got over this summer

Scenario #1: You tell the person

That would seem to be the logical and most direct thing to do. "Family Member X, you have hurt me. Do you understand the consequences of this? Are you sorry?"

But why is this so hard to do?

I know for me, I (illogically) felt like she should know what she's done. She should know that she has done harm and not been grateful. Why do I need to tell her? I feel even more hurt that she's so oblivious.

Scenario #2: You don't tell the person and you continue to wait

Or, you just wait. You wait for the person to come to their senses. You wait for the person to "see the light."

Just know... this maybe futile.

So how to forgive and let go.

"I forgive you." Three seemingly simple words, but we know wars have been waged by world leaders inability for not being able to say them.

I forgive you, because...

• I need to use my time for better things.
• This is stressing me out.
• There's not a right or wrong.
• I love Mom too much to avoid her because of you.
• Not forgiving you is making me mean and and angry.
• I know you've been hurt too in the past.
• I love you.