Apologize, Forgive, Move On

So something great happened to me yesterday...Here's a little back story.

Jesse and I worked at a restaurant we'll just call FH. I started working at FH when I was 16 years old. Shortly after I started working there, Rene started working there. She was a few years older than me and we really hit it off. For 5-6 years, she was like my big sister. She had a daughter Jordan that my family adored and they became almost like family.

I don't know what happened or what went wrong, but shortly before Jess and I got married, there was some drama that happened amongst us all. I wound up, basically, dis-owning her and didn't even invite her to my wedding. At the time, I remember I was so justified in doing what I did. (Now, I can't even remember what the dang fight was all about.)

For years, I put it out of my mind. That was the easier thing to do. I havent' seen or talked to her in at least 8 years. However, recently I found her through friend on good ol Fac.ebook. I wanted to friend her, but how weird would that be. So, every so often, I would stop by her page and just see what was going on in her life.

Well, yesterday, one of the girls that we worked with had a graduation party for her daughter. I knew Rene would be there, so I spent A LOT of time this past week praying for the meeting. I know God just kept nudging me to apologize. Of course, Jess had a golf outing and couldn't make it, so I was there alone. I didn't know what to expect. Would she hate me, would she yell at me, would she even acknowledge me? I had NO idea.

Thankfully when I got there other friends were around, so I said hi and gave everyone a hug. She was smiling and introduced me to Jordan (who is now 19 years old and going to be a sophomore in college. Talk about feeling OLD. She was 3 when I met her!!) Due to lack of seats around there and my nerves, I was literally SHAKING! I sat a table off to the side and caught up with some other friends I hadn't seen in awhile. After a short time, Rene came over and sat next to me. She patted my knee and told me I looked great. I instantly jumped at the chance, hugged her in a bear hug and just simply said, "I'm SORRY!"

Rene was in tears and said, "what even happened?" I simply replied, "I don't remember, I just know that in my heart I need to apologize. I was wrong and I hurt you and I am truly sorry." I began to cry during this time too. She said she was so happy and not being invited to my wedding was the thing in her life that hurt her the most. (OUCH! Dagger!) But I deserved it. She left a short time later, we exchanged numbers and are hopefully meeting next week for lunch to catch up!

I don't know what even happened, I honestly don't remember. But yesterday was one of the happiest days in my life. Thanks to God, I was able to put my pride aside, do what was entirely hard, but the right thing to do, and in turn, I hope I have my old friend back. What a day!!!