20 years, finally closure

I was really close to 6-7 of my friends from high school. Shortly after graduation, they ghosted me with no explanation. Then Monday I got an invite to our 20 year high school reunion from one of them. Nice, right? Olive branch… bygones??? Nope. Turns out it was an afterthought. The event is THIS Saturday. They have been planning it since January. And to add injury to insult, I live 5 hours away. I vented to my sister-in-law all the feels with the tears and the petty and the cussing… then I responded to the invite with dignity and truth. (It was a private school with a class size of 35 so it was more appropriate to open up than in a larger more impersonal group.) I said I wanted to go because I am still grieving for the friendships I lost and I dream of having them renewed. But, I wasn’t going to indulge that since it wouldn’t be in my best interest mentally/emotionally. I explained how I never got over the hurt of being abandoned… that I didn’t know it was still a wound I could feel. The recent invite brought it all back so that it felt as fresh as it happened yesterday. I felt it was important to tell the people i considered dear friends long ago that actions have consequences. Even if they had good intentions, it doesn’t overrule the pain their actions caused. Telling them my truth made me immediately feel better about the whole ordeal. I can start to heal. They may not understand the significance of me revealing my emotional truth, but I do, and that’s what counts. I am done hiding.