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Two decades later, gay man gets unexpected apology from one of his junior high school bullies
This is a story that I hope will inspire bullies and former bullies out there.
ChadMichael Morrisette (pictured) was 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 tormenters 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.
Comments
(All comments are reviewed before being published, and I review submissions several times per day.)
Charlie says:
That is really great that the bully had enough balls to own up to the awful way he treated the classmate. I was bullied a lot in Jr./High school. I could certainly relate to the feelings of the daily humiliation Chadmichael experienced.
ron says:
I would love to have been his “protector”..
FAEN says:
I’m not waiting for the bullies to apologize to me because they never will. At least one bully had the maturity to come clean.
K. Martinez says:
I once had a classmate bully me in junior high. I complained to my dad and he told me to go back and fight. The bully kept at it for a couple more weeks and eventually I grew tired of him humiliating me, so I decked him really hard. He never bothered me again.