Found a letter I wrote to my old friend Sam in a box of college stuff

I was cleaning out my closet last week and found a shoebox full of old notes and ticket stubs from my freshman year at Ohio State. At the bottom was a folded piece of notebook paper, an apology letter I wrote to my roommate Sam after a huge fight about a borrowed jacket I never returned. I never gave it to him because I was too proud, and we just stopped talking after that semester. Has anyone else found an old unsent apology and wondered if it's too late to make things right?

3 comments

3 Comments

dakotab931mo ago

Actually I kinda disagree with the whole "it's too late" thing people always say about this kind of stuff. I mean yeah, years have passed and Sam might not even remember the jacket thing at this point (or he might remember it way differently than you do). But here's the thing - you were young and dumb back then, and that letter was you trying to be a better person. That version of you still exists. I've done the same thing where I found old drafts of emails I never sent to people I fell out with, and honestly sending them now feels weird at first but it's not about fixing the past. It's about finally letting yourself off the hook for that stupid fight. Even if Sam never writes back or doesn't care anymore, you get to close that chapter for yourself. So I'd say track him down on Facebook and send it. The worst that happens is he ignores it, but at least you won't have that shoebox guilt hanging around anymore.

william_harris1mo agoTop Commenter

Three years and a shoebox isn't guilt, it's a museum exhibit. I've got old apology letters I never sent too, and honestly, keeping them in a box is exactly where they belong. You said Sam might not even remember the jacket thing, which means you'd be dragging up something he's long since moved past just to make yourself feel better. That's not closure for you, that's just reopening a door he probably closed years ago. I'd rather burn the letter and buy a new jacket than risk making things weird again over a dumb fight from when we were kids.

grays131mo ago

@dakotab93 wait hold up he STILL has the shoebox 💀

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