Eris, thanks for your response! Our relationship is great now. I have moved back home after college while I am “funemployed,” and am doing my best every day to make sure to help them out as much as I can, and also to speak with them with nothing but respect.

Looking back, I am just so angered and bothered by the actions I took in high school. I didn’t say thank you enough, I was very bratty/disrespectful despite them doing so much for me. I feel that this incident may have been “the icing on the cake,” if you will, in terms of the negative actions I took. As I said, I went through a phase of guilt regarding my high school years a few years prior, but they seem to have come up again. I easily find myself incredibly upset over this particular incident (though there are definitely others). At the same time, I think my friends response “I have no idea why you gave me all that other stuff, I have like no use for it” also hurt me more than a little…

I like your interpretation this incident being my brain’s code for something. I have also followed the technique you mentioned when I feel my mind thinking of the past and tell myself “there you go again! thinking about things you can’t change!” which has helped before. It just continues to bother me that it took so many incidents to learn this lesson. I am wondering if I should discuss this incident with my parents, or if I should attempt to let this go on my own. Our family has had quite the ride over recent years, both positive and negative, and they honestly probably haven’t thought about this since then. It is still, however, a very painful incident for me to think about.

Thank you!