Barbara Streisand & Barry Gibb "Guilty"

What happens when a couple goes to a high school dance as friends, has a good time and then the dude ignores the girl for the next five years? Well, that happened to me and my friend Mandy. We both went to a school dance during our sophomore year and then, for whatever reason, I stopped talking to her. I wasn't outwardly mean to her, I just sort of "moved on" and didn't really talk to her anymore. Today's kids might say, I "ghosted" her.

One of my New Year's resolutions in 1999 including apologizing to anyone who I felt I wronged while growing up. Mandy was one of the few people I vowed to locate and apologize for my behavior. By Christmastime 1999, time was running short to make good on my resolution so I decided to make that fateful phone call. Her sister answered the phone and showered me with attitude about why I was calling. "Wow," I thought, "I must have really been an ass to this girl...even her sister hates me!" Mandy's sister mentioned that Mandy was at the airport and would be home later that night. No problem. After asking her to let her know I called, I added that I would try again later. After a few hours passed, I picked up the phone and hit redial. Nope, she still wasn't home her sister begrudgingly informed me before quickly hanging up the phone.

My third attempt was successful if you classify getting Mandy on the phone as a success. After exchanging some pleasantries, I explained to Mandy why I was calling and then sought her forgiveness for being so mean to her after the beloved Winter Formal dance from 1993. Sounding caught off guard, Mandy quickly cut me off and said she had no recollection of me being mean and that there was no reason to apologize. She added that my constant phone calls had caused some issues with her husband (!) who wanted to know who this Todd guy was and why he kept calling. Yikes. Another apology came from me before I ended the phone call and concluded that maybe this wasn't a good idea after all.

Afterwards, my mom (who also found it odd that I wanted to do this) stood downstairs in our kitchen and questioned how the phone call went. After I retold the story, she laughed and said that Mandy probably thinks I'm in Alcoholics Anonymous or something because that's apparently one of the steps toward sobriety...you apologize to people who you've wronged. Now feeling embarrassed and ashamed, I tore up my New Year's resolution list of "people to call and apologize" and tried to forget about the whole thing. A few years later at my 10 year high school reunion, Mandy avoided me like the plague. The fact that I was drinking probably didn't help...