Team Aniston

Do you have one of those people who you would consider your arch nemesis? The bain of your existence? The Mizzou to your Jayhawk, the Joker to your Batman, the Jolie to your Aniston? I had one. Up until a week ago, that is.

You see, there's this girl....we'll call her "Angelina." She had a leading role in something that happened about 4 years ago that essentially crushed my soul. Seriously....not exaggerating. On a scale from 1-10, this was a 10 on the crap-o-meter of life. So anyway....I've been wrestling with anger and hurt and resentment toward this person (and the situation in general) for a long time. In the past year or so, I felt like I'd come to a place of forgiveness. This was an internal thing and I thought that it would just have to stay that way because the receiver of the forgiveness lived in New York and, shoot, I would probably never see her again. And I wasn't about to call her up or offer her my forgiveness and well wishes over facebook. She would just have to feel the vibes coming from my direction.

A week ago Danny and I were walking around on the Plaza and decided to go to Scooters for a drink. I got mine first and was meandering around the store waiting for Danny to get his drink. I saw a girl with a USMLE First Aid book and was contemplating introducing myself to her when I heard a voice from the other side of the store say hi to Danny. I was interested to see who it was because I always enjoy running into friends. So with a preemptive smile on my face I looked around a sign that was between me and the voice, (Insert sound of screeching record here.......then crickets chirping) It was her....ANGE-frickin-LINA! UGH! Even though I'd forgiven her in my soul (that was once crushed by her - let me remind you :) I was not ready for this moment. I mean for real! The girl lived in New York, I shouldn't have to worry about running into her on the cotton-picking PLAZA! So my sympathetic nervous system kicked in big time and I literally had a fight or flight moment. Seriously, I'd be lying to you if I said I didn't consider jumping over the table and strangling her skinny little neck. But I didn't....I turned around and hauled my arss right out of there, thank you very much! Then I thought about finding a bathroom so I could wretch a few times.

As I was scampering away, I heard a voice behind me calling my name.
Dang woman! Why can't you just leave me be?
At first I pretended that I didn't hear her, but reluctantly conceded to her beckoning and stood there in the middle of the sidewalk as she opened her heart and apologized. She had attempted this feat in the past, but this time was different. I could tell that this time she was sincere. She'd grown up a bit, she'd gotten married and she now realized how hurtful her actions had been all those years ago. And there, face to face, I was able to tell her that I had forgiven her.

Not exactly the leisurely, carefree day that I had planned on, but that's okay. This was something that needed to happen and when it did, a huge weight was lifted and I was a little bit more okay than I'd been in a while.