Although it’s all in the perception, I am having a hard time coming to terms with two completely opposite oppinions of the same person. I know this man…he was never a good man in my eyes. He was extremely selfish, aragant, and confident. He had power not because he earned it but because he demanded it. He cheated on his wife, molested his kids, abused verbally and physically, you name it.
Appearances on the outside were always much different. He was handsome, the “family man”, worked hard to care for his family, and was a “great guy”. That’s what “they” thought anyway. But what “they” didn’t know, we did. We knew what he did, what he was capable of doing, what he would do again. We knew.
It is years later and he is older now and lonely. Old age is setting in. He now claims to be sorry for the things he’s done or hasn’t done. He seems to need us much more now. Now that he’s old and thinks he’s dying.
So my question is how can people that went through this and much more then I even witnessed with this man view him as a completely different person then I do? Am I just looking at this the wrong way or is wrong just wrong and there is no way around it? It is what it is and too much time has passed now so there will be no dwelling on who he was or what he did or put anyone through but how can anyone honestly look back and say….he was a good man? Is it extremely cruel to say - “You made your bed”? I have forgiven him for what he has done…. but I will not forget. I will however NEVER view him as a “good man”.
