When I was about 15 I ran into a family friend who was a few years older than me at a youth function. She had recently gone through a rough time with being diagnosed with bi-polar disorder and possibly schizophrenia. This was on the down low and I only knew because my mother is her mother’s best friend. I stopped to say hello to her. I believe another person was standing with us. I, not being so big on small talk, jumped right in to asking, “so how’s the schizophrenic thing going?” … Awkward silence as she thought through being mortified that I knew AND that I brought it up.

She said, “Oh it’s…fine.”

Oblivious to the damage that I had done we awkwardly finished the conversation and left. Two days later my mother came to me and told me that the girl’s mom had called her. She said that that night she came home crying uncontrollably about what I had said and was horribly offended. I wrote an apology letter and gave it to her the next time I saw her.

She forgave me eventually.

Lucy – OK