Thursday, August 7, 2008

I'm A Hero; I'm A Villain

I am the hero of my life story! I might even play a hero's role in Captain Obvious's biography and perhaps Captain Adorable's as well. I know I have good heroic parts in the life stories of several family members and a few friends. I flatter myself that most of the people I've hung out with at least have positive impressions of me...(though Captain Obvious has at times told me that I can be too honest and rather lecturey...).

Today I found out I am also a villain in someone's life story. This is a woman I knew in high school and in the freshman and sophomore year of college. We parted badly. There was a fight--a big fight, a physical fight even! I do not remember the particulars. It was 16 or 17 years ago now...I do remember some of the issues that preceded the fight, but of course they are all from my perspective. I know that she would definitely remember things differently than I do...but I was not prepared for the level of anger I encountered from her when she emailed me today (in response to my request passed through an innocent third party). To my shock, her email was an angry diatribe against my past transgression against her. She ended her email with the words, "Honestly, the only reason I'm reaching out to you now is b/c innocent party said you told him that you have stage 4 cancer. I have to admit, a small part of me is wondering if this is another manipulation." Those sentences almost made me angry...but well, I'm her villain. I guess she could believe anything, no matter how horrible, of her villain.

I wrote a response apologising and thanking her for the opportunity to do so. I have no desire to seek further contact with her and it is quite clear that she has no interest in pursuing further contact with me.

Strange, all these years I've been her villain. I feel so ... confused ... Ah, well...I guess this was bound to happen when contacting people from the past.

6 comments:

AP said...

How interesting she could hold onto that anger for so long (though one of my first thoughts was that your argument was well-founded.) She seems a little too able to hold a grudge. Lightning may strike me for writing that.

Rose said...

Who are you, ap? Do you know me in real life or just through the blog? I am asking bc of the phrase "though one of my first thoughts was that your argument was well-founded." Makes me think you know about the event in question? Maybe you know more than I do! Kinda sucks to find out I was that freaking horrible to someone. I have been questioning memories and my current relationships.

Rose said...

Thanks for the follow up, ap. :) You rock!

AP said...

Feel free to get in touch. You've got your hands full with a total cutie-pie and lots of friends and family around, so I know you're busy. I'm a sucker for good writing, so I'll keep reading regardless.

Anonymous said...

wow...sucks for her that she is so angry. Life is too precious.
Stay Strong momma.

Bellejar said...

wow. That's really crazy. It's good that she is letting it go though. She must have a really bad opinion of you...