Not So Great Experiences
If time truly had a reverse button, there are some people I would never have allowed close to me. Not because I hate them, but because of the pain they brought into my life — pains I never expected from friends or even family members.
Earlier this year, around January, my cousin sister came to stay with us. She had some challenges, and even though I haven't seen her for about eight years, we still chatted once in a while on WhatsApp. When she ran into trouble, she remembered us and came for help. As a sister, I and my family welcomed her and I even shared some of my personal struggles with her, just as she shared hers with me.
After a few months, she got her own apartment and moved out. Gradually, she started distancing herself from us. I didn’t think too much about it at first everyone gets busy. But when I checked on her one day, I noticed something strange: she had made new friends and was always moving around with them.
Although she is older than me, I advised her to be careful because I’ve lived here longer and I know how things work. Instead of appreciating the advice, she started avoiding me. Fine. One morning, I messaged her on WhatsApp and told her to return my belongings in her house because I no longer wanted to visit. I told her clearly that I don’t mix friendship with family, and since she values her new friends more than her own blood, she should continue with them.
She returned my things and that was the beginning of the real story.
Instead of facing her life, she went about gossiping about me. The things she said were so horrible that if not for the mercy of God, something terrible could have happened to me. When the truth finally came out, she was exposed and put to shame. Can you imagine? She even told our senior siblings that I was the cause of her problems that they should be careful with me because I am “evil.”
That experience taught me a bitter but unforgettable lesson: even your own blood can betray you.
So these days, I am extremely careful. I don’t easily share my secrets with people anymore. Before I open my mouth, I think twice because truly, the heart of man is desperately wicked.
Some friendships, and even some family connections, are better left in the past. If time could reverse, I would never allow certain people close enough to hurt me the way they did.
