❤️❤️❤️ Hi Henya, Your ending is perfect! Forgiveness is so misunderstood and you have explained very well the reasons why.
No one is ever obligated to accept an apology before they have had proper time to process their hurt.
As you noted, it can do more harm than good to accept without thinking. …. Check in with ourselves to know how we feel. Move too quickly or out of guilt and it can retraumatize.
I have walked away from family because of this. They either won’t apologize or fake apologize and expect forgiveness. I value my inner peace.
Thank you for this well-written piece.