Thursday, May 7, 2015

Gay man gets unexpected apology from one of his junior high school bullies - 20 years later

ChadMichael Morrisette remembers being bullied - a lot - during junior high and high school. 'I was bullied for being who I am,' he writes on his Facebook page. 'I was bullied for being gay. I was bullied for being little. I was bullied for every reason someone is bullied. It was awful. I couldn’t even walk to classes without an adult escort or friends with me.'
Morrisette, now a successful brand consultant and visual designer, was surprised recently when one of his tormentors reached out to him on Facebook. The man explained that his daughter had asked him if he had ever bullied anyone and the man sadly admitted that he had.
'What came to mind was how shitty and mean I was to you when we were in Jr. High,' the man wrote in a Facebook message. 'I want to apologize. If we lived in the same state, I would apologize to your face. I don't even know if you remember but I do and I am sorry.'
Morrisette tells Queerty he could not stop crying after taking a few days to process what he had read. He wrote his former classmate back telling him he was 'quite moved' by his gesture and accepted his apology.
'In 20 years, you are the only person to apologize for being a bully to me when we were younger,' he wrote. 'I hope you can proudly tell your daughter that you have apologized for it and that we are good.' The man replied: 'Your forgiveness means more than you know' and he added that he hoped he is not the last person to apologize for the bullying.

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