The Apology

I was seventeen when I betrayed my best friend. Over a boy. It was stupid. She never spoke to me again.\n\nFor fifteen years, I carried the weight of that betrayal.\n\nLast year, my father died. At the funeral, I saw her standing in the back of the church, holding white lilies.\n\n"I'm sorry about your dad. He was always kind to me."\n\nI couldn't speak. She pulled me into a hug.\n\n"I'm sorry," I finally whispered. "For everything."\n\nShe pulled back. "I forgave you a long time ago. Holding onto that anger was hurting me more than it was hurting you."\n\nWe talked for an hour. It was a bridge across old wounds.\n\nForgiveness doesn't erase the past. But it makes the future possible.