DEAR ABBY: I received a Facebook invitation to my 35th high school reunion. I was bullied constantly in every grade. I had no friends in my class, and the memories I have are not pleasant. I composed a letter expressing the hope that the attendees enjoy reminiscing, and then added that I have no desire to see any of them again. In the letter, I called out by name several former classmates with specifics on their bullying and cruel treatment. I told those who were the "nice kids" I felt invisible and like a nonentity. I ended the letter saying that I have a good life, and as an adult one would think the past would be the past. But that invitation triggered all the rejection and pain, which had lasted for years. I wrote that if any of them are parents, I hope they taught their kids and grandkids to do better.
Bullying has long-lasting consequences, and that pain never really goes away. I shared my letter with a friend who suggested I send it in Facebook Messenger to the organizer. I'm afraid to do it. I thought sharing it with my friend would be cathartic. I don't know what good it would do to share it with my former classmates. They didn't care then, so why would it matter now? What do you think? -- INVISIBLE IN THE WEST
DEAR INVISIBLE: Feeling as you do, I think you should show up at the reunion with a friend, if you can stomach it, and deliver that message in person. Whether your former classmates care or not, they should know that having been bullied and excluded carried lifelong consequences for their target. Some of them may even offer you an apology -- 40 years late -- now that they have matured.