Answer of the Week

Remember Friday's question of the week? Click the link to get a refresher course. Go ahead, I'll wait.

Okay, are you back? Good. We can begin. I mentioned that I had something to tell someone. Well, that someone was my Mom. And tonight, I got that something off my chest.

A few years before Dad passed away, my parents split up. So after some 23 years of marriage, they divorced. Until the day I die, I will never understand why Mom left him or what her reasoning was. No amount of explanation on her part will clear that up for me. Nothing I can do about that.

But on my end, I've been harboring a great deal of resentment and bitterness. From her perspective, everything was fine. But I was living a lie. Lying to her about our relationship and lying to myself. I decided some time ago that I needed to clear the air about how I was feeling. I needed to let go of my anger and let her know the truth.

I've been going through the last six or seven years knowing that my relationship with Mom was bad, even though she thought things were okay. So tonight I let her know that I forgave her for leaving. And I asked her to forgive me for burying all that resentment for so long.

Before Dad passed away, he knew about all that bitterness. And one of his biggest fears was that when he died, I would feel like an orphan. Let me clarify, I've never felt that way. But I know that he wanted me to have a good relationship with Mom. And I couldn't do that until I could be honest with her.

She cried. I cried. But in the end, things are good. And she asked me to always be honest with her. She asked me not to be afraid to let her know what I'm thinking or how I'm feeling. And I agreed. So if you're holding back something that you have to say to someone, go ahead and tell them. 'Cause we aren't guaranteed a certain number of days on this earth. Tomorrow could be the end for any one of us. Tell someone you love them. Tell someone you forgive them. Hatred and anger in your heart will only consume you until your hatred and anger are all that's left.