Would you continue to take the blame in this situation?

I am back in my home town taking care of my mother who is in the hospital. Tonight, I contacted an old friend of Mom’s, whose daughter was my best friend since were were two. We are now in our late 40s.

Every time I talk to Mrs. M., she implies that I corrupted her daughter when we were in our teens. The fact is that her son bought us our first beer when we were underage, her daughter smoked cigarettes and pot while I didn’t, and the daughter and a few of our close friends completely cut another girl and me out of their lives one day when we were all 16.

It took many years to work through the pain of dropped by this close friend, and while we have built a bridge and gotten over it, her mother hasn’t because she doesn’t have her facts straight.

I so want to ask her what she thinks happened and why she still brings it up considering both her daughter and I have landed on our feet. For some reason, I’d really like to hear her point-of-view. I’m willing to shoulder the blame that she feels should be mine, despite it being untrue. It is just highly irritating to be continually judged for whatever it is that Mrs. M. thinks happened that I did.

So, do I just continue to take the blame, or can I ask her what she thinks happened for the sake of my curiosity after all of these years?