Dear Queenie,
A childhood friend of mine suffers from depression because of the abuse she suffered from her brother as a child that her parents knew about but didn’t do anything to make it stop.
Now she often invites me to family events like birthday parties where her brother and parents are present and I don’t like to go and face her abuser and the ones who didn’t protect her from him and now they are all acting like it never happened.
Queenie, should we just go and act like we don’t know anything bad ever happened?—Concerned friend
Dear Friend,
Celebrate special occasions with your friend separately, just before or after the actual date. Meanwhile, suggest to your friend, if she has not already done so, that she should see a professional counsellor for help in dealing with her depression.
